OpenAI and Anthropic are backing a new British AI Biosecurity Lab designed to spot biological threats earlier and speed up work on vaccines and treatments. The government announced the project on October 24 as part of a wider push to prepare for health and security risks from increasingly capable AI.
The package is worth up to £300 million: £100 million in government funding, plus up to £200 million in company support, largely through computing and model credits. Those credits give researchers access to AI systems and computing resources, rather than adding the same amount in cash to the lab's budget.
What OpenAI and Anthropic are providing
The Cabinet Office's announcement sets out the two companies' roles. OpenAI will provide £100 million in computing and model credits, alongside trusted access to its most capable relevant models through its Rosalind Biodefense program.
Anthropic will provide up to £100 million in model credits, trusted model access and dedicated technical support.
Google DeepMind and British life sciences company Basecamp Research are also partners. Basecamp will make its AI-biology models, capabilities and technical expertise available for priority biosecurity problems.
DeepMind scientists and biosecurity experts will take part in research collaborations. The government says the company will also look to provide trusted access to frontier Gemini systems and specialized science models.
The job is earlier detection and faster treatment
The lab's first priorities are detecting emerging biological threats and accelerating the discovery, development and testing of vaccines, treatments and other medical countermeasures. It will work with national biosecurity centers and the life sciences industry to turn advances in AI into tools that can be used when an outbreak occurs.
In the Treasury's October 24 statement, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said:
"Our new AI Biosecurity Lab will be a major new global institution, bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats and ensure Britain leads the world in AI safety and security."
The government plans to run the lab as an independent nonprofit, with enough autonomy to recruit technical specialists from industry and academia. A scientific advisory committee will draw on expertise from universities, companies and the nonprofit sector; its membership will be announced later.
It will work with the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Dstl, the UK's defense science and technology laboratory. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will also be involved in preparing for health emergencies and informing the regulation of AI-designed medicines.
AI is also part of the risk
The Cabinet Office says more capable AI can create new biological risks and lower the barriers to harmful activity. The project is meant to strengthen defenses while using the same technology to improve disease research and the response to outbreaks.
Aurelia Nguyen, deputy CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, described the potential benefit in remarks included in the Treasury announcement:
"But, used safely and securely, the same technology can help us detect threats earlier and design lifesaving vaccines faster, fundamentally changing what is possible in pandemic preparedness."
The lab is one part of the £165 million National AI Biosecurity Initiative. Alongside its £100 million public allocation, the initiative includes £65 million to strengthen biological surveillance and develop medical countermeasures for priority pathogens.
The wider October 24 package also includes an additional £120 million for the AI Security Institute, £60 million for a National Cyber Shield and £70 million for the NERV center for detecting vulnerabilities. Those measures cover AI testing, cyber defenses and the search for weaknesses in critical infrastructure.
As Apex previously reported, Narayan said in an October 23 BBC interview that AI checks had uncovered 500 previously unknown vulnerabilities in public-sector systems.