UK government sets out $800 million of AI security funding

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Britain's government set out around £600 million ($800 million)of funding on Saturday largely geared towards defending against health and security threats from artificial intelligence.

The biggest chunk of funding will go to a new biosecurity initiative, including £100 million for a laboratory using AI to detect biological threats and £65 million to develop countermeasures against pathogens.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the aim was for the AI Biosecurity Lab to become a major global institution "bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats".

• Tech companies OpenAI and Anthropic will offer up to £200 million of model credits to the biosecurity initiative

• Google Deepmind and London-based AI life sciences startup Basecamp Research will offer other assistance

• Britain's government will give its existing AI Security Institute an extra £120 million

• £130 million will go towards new projects to improve cyber defences for critical infrastructure and the wider economy, known as the National Cyber Shield and the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre

• £60 million will go towards a fund that will invest in British companies using AI to advance robotics, autonomous systems and manufacturing

• £60 million will be used for AI research and procurement contracts

• An extra £23 million will go to research on the economic impact of AI

• £18 million will go to a new chip design academy

• £15 million will fund a prize for AI solutions to public policy problems, initially focused on healthcare

• £30 million will go to regional mayors to support local AI work

• Britain's National Cyber Security Centre will receive an unspecified sum to expand in Manchester

• Anthropic alone racked up more than $12 billion in operating expenses last year

($1 = 0.7472 pounds)

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Alistair Smout)