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Britain’s AI Safety Institute will drop its focus on bias and free speech to concentrate on crime and national security issues, the Technology Secretary will announce on Friday.
The agency will also be rebranded as the AI Security Institute (AISI), emphasising its renewed focus on crime and security issues.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle is expected to announce the agency’s new name at the Munich Security Conference on Friday along with a new “criminal misuse” team, in partnership with the Home Office.
The institute’s focus from the start has been on security and we’ve built a team of scientists focused on evaluating serious risks to the public
Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Kyle said: “The changes I’m announcing today represent the logical next step in how we approach responsible AI development – helping us to unleash AI and grow the economy as part of our plan for change.”
He added that the “renewed focus” on security would “ensure our citizens – and those of our allies – are protected from those who would look to use AI against our institutions, democratic values and way of life”.
Crime and security concerns already form part of the institute’s remit, but it currently also covers wider societal impacts of artificial intelligence, the risk of AI becoming autonomous and the effectiveness of safety measures for AI systems.
Established in 2023, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak said the institute would “advance the world’s knowledge of AI safety”, including exploring “all the risks from social harms like bias and misinformation, through to the most extreme risks of all”.
Although Mr Kyle insisted the institute’s work “won’t change”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the rebranded agency “will not focus on bias or freedom of speech”.
The refocusing on security is expected to include addressing how AI can be used to develop chemical and biological weapons, carry out cyber attacks and enable crimes such as fraud and child sexual abuse.
AISI chairman Ian Hogarth said: “The institute’s focus from the start has been on security and we’ve built a team of scientists focused on evaluating serious risks to the public.
“Our new criminal misuse team and deepening partnership with the national security community mark the next stage of tackling those risks.”
Also on Friday, Mr Kyle announced a new partnership between the UK and Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI company, the first deal involving the Government’s new sovereign AI unit.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said: “We look forward to exploring how Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude could help UK Government agencies enhance public services, with the goal of discovering new ways to make vital information and services more efficient and accessible to UK residents.”
The Government began the year with a major focus on AI, setting out plans to both boost the UK’s AI industry and incorporate the technology into the public sector.
Alongside the launch in January of an AI action plan, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote to ministers instructing them to make driving AI adoption and growth in their departments a top priority.
