UK unveils 'British approach' to AI
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The gist
UK Chancellor John Healey announced about £600 million in AI funding for biosecurity, cyber and infrastructure.
The money lands in next week's Budget, shaping how far AI spreads across UK jobs and public services.
Background
John Healey is the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, the minister who sets the government's tax and spending plans. He is folding this AI package into his Budget, with further details promised next week. The push comes as the government says it wants a "distinctively British approach to AI" that protects workers and the national interest, and days after it took some government sites offline as a precaution over critical flaws in the PHP programming language. The AI Security Institute (AISI), a body set up by the previous Conservative government in 2023 to evaluate risks from the most advanced AI models, is among the recipients.
How it unfolded
- Oct 23, 2026An industry taskforce's Project SAIL report calls for a "Prosperity Compact" between government, business, regions and citizens within 12 months, citing a potential £75 billion economic boost by 2035.
- Oct 24, 2026Chancellor John Healey announces a package to unlock AI opportunities "in every postcode," scale up home-grown AI firms and keep the country safe from hostile threats.
- Oct 24, 2026The government commits £100m to a national AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL), described as a "world first," with OpenAI and Anthropic providing £200m worth of AI model credits.
- Oct 24, 2026A further £120m goes to the AI Security Institute, £60m to a "National Cyber Shield" using agentic AI for cyber-defences and £70m to a National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre.
- Oct 24, 2026Other allocations include £65m for pathogen countermeasures, £30m for regional mayors, £60m for robotics and manufacturing AI, £18m for a chip design academy and £10m a year to study how AI reshapes jobs.
- Oct 24, 2026Healey says he will set out further details at the Budget next week.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Healey says AI will transform daily life and that his plan is a "distinctively British approach" that doesn't leave workers behind and defends the national interest.
- Official
- AI Minister Kanishka Narayan says the Biosecurity Lab will be a "major new global institution" and that Britain cannot rely entirely on technology built overseas.
- Support
- Jordan Cummins of the CBI says the Chancellor is right to put security, resilience and trust at the heart of the UK's AI approach, with broadening AI skills across the workforce the next priority.
- Support
- techUK CEO Julian David says the Edinburgh chip design and Manchester Centre of Excellence investments will help spread benefits in every postcode through jobs and training.
- Caution
- Cisco UK & Ireland chief executive Sarah Walker says the government has taken important steps on AI ambition, but now government and industry must come together to deliver.
Still unverified
The full role and remit of the new AI Biosecurity Lab are yet to emerge; there have been no reports of any successful exploits of the flaw dubbed php2shell so far.