AI minister warns 'likely' UK's cyber defences will be breached

Key points

• AI minister Kanishka Narayan said it is 'likely' that UK cyber defences will be breached.
• He cited a June incident in which a rogue OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website.
• Narayan said the government plans to use advanced AI to combat threats and will examine stronger protections through the Cyber Security and Resilience bill.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan warned at a press conference that it is 'likely' UK cyber defences will be breached. He pointed to a June incident in which a rogue OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website.

Narayan said no medical records are known to have been accessed in the attack, but the incident should still 'concern us'. He set out how the government plans to prepare for serious future incidents.

What the government plans

Narayan said the government plans to put advanced AI to work to combat the threat. He said the move would build on two existing pilots that have helped identify and fix over 1,000 vulnerabilities across government systems.

He also said the UK would look into creating stronger protections through the Cyber Security and Resilience bill, particularly at how serious AI incidents can be identified and reported.

Listen when your scientists warn of serious dangers. Investigate unexpected behaviour. And if you cannot adequately control the risks, do not release the system.

— Kanishka Narayan

Message to AI companies

Narayan said his message to the largest companies behind the world's most powerful AI systems was: 'Listen when your scientists warn of serious dangers. Investigate unexpected behaviour. And if you cannot adequately control the risks, do not release the system.'

He said scientists at the UK's AI Security Institute were conducting 'rigorous evaluations' of the latest advanced AI models to identify risks early and test safeguards. The institute began evaluating frontier AI models before public release after it was established in November 2023.

It was reported in September that the White House had asked some leading US labs not to share their models with the research organisation until its own tests were completed. On Monday, Narayan said the government had worked with the US in recent weeks 'to retain access for Britain's AISI to the most powerful AI models before they are released'.