UK Government Demands AI Institute Shift Focus to Defense and National Security

Minister tells UK's Turing AI institute to focus on defence

The cabinet minister said further government investment in the institute would depend on the "delivery of the vision" he had outlined in the letter. A spokesperson for the Alan Turing Institute said it welcomed "the recognition of our critical role and will continue to work closely with the government to support its priorities". "The Turing is focussing on high-impact missions that support the UK's sovereign AI capabilities, including in defence and national security," the spokesperson said. "We share the government's vision of AI transforming the UK for the better." The letter comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer committed to a Nato alliance target of increasing UK defence spending to 5% of national income by 2035 and invest more in military uses of AI technology. A recent government review of UK defence said "an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and artificial intelligence". Set up under Prime Minister David Cameron's government as the National Institute for Data Science in 2015, the institute added AI to its remit two years later. It receives public funding and was given a grant of £100m by the previous Conservative government last year. The Turing institute's work has focused on AI and data science research in three main areas - environmental sustainability, health and national security. Lately, the institute has focused more on responsible AI and ethics, and one of its recent reports was on the increasing use of the tech by romance scammers. But Kyle's letter suggests the government wants the Turing institute to make defence its main priority, which would be a significant pivot for the organisation. "There is an opportunity for the ATI to seize this moment," Kyle wrote in the letter to the institute's chairman, Dr Douglas Gurr. "I believe the institute should build on its existing strengths, and reform itself further to prioritise its defence, national security and sovereign capabilities."

Minister demands overhaul of UK's leading AI institute

Peter Kyle calls for greater focus on defence and national security, and new leadership at Alan Turing Institute The technology secretary has demanded an overhaul of the UK's leading artificial intelligence institute in a wide-ranging letter that calls for a switch in focus to defence and national security, as well as leadership changes. Peter Kyle said it was clear further action was needed to ensure the government-backed Alan Turing Institute met its full potential. In a letter to ATI's chair, seen by the Guardian, Kyle said the institute should be changed to prioritise defence, national security and "sovereign capabilities" - a reference to nation states being able to control their own AI technology. The call for new priorities implies a downgrading of ATI's focus on health and the environment, which are two of three core subjects for the institute, alongside defence and security, under its "Turing 2.0" strategy. "Moving forward, defence and national security projects should form a core of ATI's activities, and relationships with the UK's security, defence, and intelligence communities should be strengthened accordingly," Kyle wrote. Making clear that the Turing 2.0 strategy did not meet government requirements, Kyle indicated that he expected leadership changes at ATI. "To realise this vision, it is imperative that the ATI's leadership reflects the institute's reformed focus," he wrote. "While we acknowledge the success of the current leadership in delivering reform at the institute during a difficult period, careful consideration should be given to the importance of an executive team who possesses a relevant background and sector knowledge to lead this transition." ATI is chaired by Doug Gurr, the former head of Amazon's UK operations and interim chair of the UK's competition watchdog. The institute is going through a restructuring under the chief executive, Jean Innes,which one in five staff have said puts ATI's credibility in "serious jeopardy". At the end of last year, ATI employed 440 staff, but it has since launched a redundancy process. Although the institute is nominally independent, it recently secured £100m from the government in a five-year funding deal. The letter said ATI's "longer-term funding arrangement" could be reviewed next year. The government would maintain its current level of research and development from national security and defence for the next three years, Kyle wrote, and would increase the number of defence and national security staff embedded in the institute. Dame Wendy Hall, a professor of computer science at the University of Southampton and the co-chair of a 2017 government AI review, said ATI would cease to be a national institute under the government's proposed changes. "If the institute focuses on defence and security it ceases to be a national institute on AI," Hall said. "It's not broad enough. If the government wants an AI institute that does defence and security then it should just call it that." In February, the government indicated a focus on national security with its AI strategy by renaming its AI Safety Institute, established under the premiership of Rishi Sunak, the AI Security Institute. Kyle's letter also referred to the government's 50-point AI action plan as a "testament" to the UK's AI ambitions, The plan's targets include a 20-fold increase in the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030, and embedding AI in the public sector.