The UK is establishing the AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL) to build capabilities to understand, prevent, detect and respond to biological threats. The lab is part of the National AI Biosecurity Initiative.
The government will provide £100 million in funding. OpenAI and Anthropic have committed up to £200 million. The government describes AIBL as the world’s first organisation dedicated to AI biosecurity.
The lab will bring together frontier AI and biological science expertise. Its initial work will focus on tools for earlier detection of biological threats and faster development of vaccines, treatments and other medical countermeasures.
AIBL will work with public-sector organisations, academic institutions, industry partners and frontier AI companies in the UK and internationally. Its partners include Google DeepMind and UK company Basecamp Research.
OpenAI will provide £100 million in compute and model credits, along with trusted access to relevant models through its Rosalind Biodefense programme. Anthropic will provide up to £100 million in model credits, trusted model access and dedicated technical support.
AIBL will operate as an independent, non-profit organisation. The initiative brings together the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the life sciences sector.
