Europe
UK launches AI Biosecurity Lab with £100 million of state funding and up to £200 million from OpenAI and Anthropic
The UK government has announced the AI Biosecurity Lab, which it calls the world’s first dedicated AI biosecurity organisation, with £100 million of public funding and up to £200 million in company commitments.
The United Kingdom is setting up what its government calls the world’s first organisation dedicated to AI biosecurity, backed by £100 million of public money and up to £200 million in commitments from OpenAI and Anthropic. The UK government announced the AI Biosecurity Lab, known as AIBL, on 24 October 2026.
The lab is meant to use frontier artificial intelligence to help the UK understand, prevent, detect and respond to biological threats. The government’s announcement says advances in AI are opening opportunities for scientific discovery, but that increasingly capable systems could also “lower barriers to harmful activity”.
What the lab will do
Initial work will concentrate on two areas: detecting emerging biological threats earlier, and speeding up the development and testing of vaccines, treatments and other medical countermeasures. The lab will support the UK’s national biosecurity centres and its life sciences industry, and the government says it builds on the country’s Biological Security Strategy.
AIBL will be an independent, non-profit body, modelled in its autonomy on the AI Security Institute. A scientific advisory committee drawing on academia, industry and the third sector is planned, with details to follow. The government says it intends the lab to be funded by both public and philanthropic money over time.
Who is paying and who is partnering
According to the announcement, OpenAI will provide £100 million in compute and model credits, together with trusted access to its most capable relevant models through its Rosalind Biodefense programme. Anthropic will provide up to £100 million in model credits, trusted model access and dedicated technical support.
Two further partners are named. Google DeepMind scientists and biosecurity experts will collaborate with the lab on research and may offer trusted access to Gemini and specialised science models. Basecamp Research, a UK AI life sciences company, will supply access to its AI-biology models and expertise.
Link to government agencies
AIBL is launched as part of a National AI Biosecurity Initiative that brings together the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) with the new lab and the life sciences sector. The lab will also work with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to prepare for health emergencies and to inform the regulation of AI-designed medicines.
The announcement is published by the Cabinet Office. It gives no opening date, location or staffing figures for the lab, and it does not say how access to the companies’ models will be controlled beyond describing it as “trusted”.
The inclusion of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory alongside the health and animal-health agencies shows that the government is treating the initiative as a security matter as well as a public health one.
