The British government has announced a new program that puts artificial intelligence at the center of its own national defenses, asking leading AI models to help shield the country from the very risks those systems may pose.
The initiative builds on two pilot projects that reportedly identified and fixed over a thousand potential cyber vulnerabilities across government systems. These early efforts also helped detect possible cyber threats targeting public infrastructure.
Extending the program aims to reduce risk in the short term while supporting broader adoption of AI tools across the public sector. The government says the goal is to protect public services people rely on every day.
At Imperial College London’s Base One science and tech incubator, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan called for a whole-society approach to managing emerging AI risks. He emphasized that the technology must continue serving British interests, boosting both prosperity and security.
Narayan warned that as frontier AI systems grow more powerful and autonomous, the consequences of failures or misuse could become far more serious. He confirmed that scientists at Britain’s AI Security Institute are already evaluating the latest advanced AI models, working closely with top developers and the U.S. government.
“I want Britain to become one of the hardest countries in the world to attack using artificial intelligence,” Narayan said. “We will use every power at our disposal. We will legislate wherever necessary. And we won’t look to law alone. We will look to British ingenuity: our scientific expertise, technological capabilities and institutions to understand these increasingly powerful systems, defend against emerging threats and respond when things go wrong.”
Regulatory Scrutiny and Incident Preparedness
Narayan also issued a direct message to companies developing the most powerful AI systems: “Listen when your scientists warn of serious dangers. Investigate unexpected behaviour. And if you cannot adequately control the risks, do not release the system.”
Cyber Minister Liz Lloyd said: “As cyber incidents continue to disrupt globally, organisations large and small, private and public, are all being confronted with an undeniable reality – it’s now business-critical to ensure you’re on the front-foot when it comes to cyber security. “Through scaling up projects piloting AI to protect public services and progressing a Cyber Bill to boost our defences, Government is putting cyber security and AI preparedness at the heart of the UK’s digital future.”
The government plans to review parts of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to strengthen protections for essential services like hospitals and utilities. This includes addressing AI loss-of-control risks, where autonomous systems might evade human oversight.
Collaboration with the National Cyber Security Centre and the AI Security Institute is underway to develop response protocols for incidents involving AI agents—systems capable of performing complex tasks with minimal human input. Such events could unfold rapidly and spread widely, outpacing traditional emergency frameworks.
