Healey puts hundreds of millions of pounds behind AI security

A security budget with an economic case

Healey plans new funding for the AI Security Institute and other institutions, alongside public money for projects intended to benefit society. The government will also invest in AI chip development in Edinburgh and establish a new AI Centre of Excellence in Manchester.

A further £10 million a year will fund research into how AI could change the labour market and industry. The Treasury will support public-private investment of up to £300 million in a new AI biosecurity laboratory, intended to bring scientists together to protect people from emerging biological threats.

Healey has framed AI as part of Labour’s growth plan, arguing it can raise living standards and support British businesses. Official figures show investment in AI helped the UK outperform gloomy forecasts, with the country recording the fastest growth among G7 nations in the first half of this year. The source also points to the Iran war as a factor pushing up inflation and weakening business confidence.

The risks are already tangible

The government’s case for investment lands amid concerns that AI could enable cyberattacks, disrupt IT systems and accelerate job losses as companies replace workers with machines.

This week, websites around the world went offline after a serious vulnerability was found in a programming language used to build a significant part of the web. The vulnerability was identified with help from rapid advances in AI. Barclays also said it would cut 5,000 jobs as part of a cost-saving programme, with executives saying AI was helping improve efficiency.

The wider budget is being prepared amid pressure on public finances and a renewed cost-of-living crisis. The war in the Middle East has driven global energy prices higher, and oil briefly rose above $117 a barrel on Friday, its highest level in six months. Healey says the budget will give families and businesses “breathing space” as higher energy costs hit millions of households this winter.

What the spending does not settle

Healey says the aim is to protect national interests, keep workers from being left behind and spread the gains from AI-driven growth across the country. The government also says domestic investment will reduce reliance on other countries pursuing AI capabilities.

I think the tension is sharper than the budget’s broad promise suggests. Funding research into jobs and building a biosecurity lab may help the UK understand and contain risks, but the announcement gives little detail on how workers will share in the gains if businesses use AI to cut costs. That question matters more when a major bank is already citing AI efficiency as it announces 5,000 job cuts.

Security minister Dan Jarvis said the UK was proud of its leadership in international efforts to use AI for humanity’s benefit. Defence minister Wes Streeting, meanwhile, urged people to prepare for growing risks from extreme weather, cyberattacks and other emergencies. The government’s 72-hour preparedness campaign sits alongside warnings from Silicon Valley executives about existential AI risks.

The budget’s bet is that domestic capability can make the country safer and more prosperous at once. Whether that means workers and the public share the upside, rather than simply carrying the costs of transition, remains the harder test.