UK Backs £100m AI Biosecurity Lab as OpenAI and Anthropic Pledge Up to £200m in Model Credits

The UK government will put £100m into a new AI Biosecurity Lab, according to the Cabinet Office, which calls it "the world's first dedicated AI biosecurity organisation." HM Treasury set out the funding ahead of the Budget on Wednesday, Oct. 28, which Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey will deliver.

The lab will be an independent non-profit. The Cabinet Office says it is designed to operate like the AI Security Institute in attracting top talent and working with sufficient autonomy. Its initial work will focus on detecting emerging biological threats earlier and speeding up the development of vaccines, treatments and other medical countermeasures.

The Cabinet Office says the lab is backed by £100m of government funding and up to £200m in company commitments from OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI will provide £100m in compute and model credits, plus trusted access to its most capable relevant models through its Rosalind Biodefense programme. Anthropic will provide up to £100m in model credits, trusted model access and technical support. The BBC describes the company contribution as "£200m worth of model credits."

Google DeepMind and Basecamp Research are research partners, not funders. Basecamp will provide access to its AI-biology models and expertise. The Cabinet Office says DeepMind scientists will partner on research and "will look to provide" trusted access to its Gemini and science models.

According to the Treasury, the lab sits inside a £165m National AI Biosecurity Initiative: £100m for the lab and £65m for biosurveillance and medical countermeasures. The Treasury also announced an extra £120m for the AI Security Institute. Reuters reports the lab is part of "around £600 million" for AI that is "largely geared towards defending against health and security threats."

No director, site or start date has been named, and the BBC reports that full details are yet to emerge.