Minister tells Turing AI institute to focus on defence

 

Cabinet minister Peter Kyle has written to the Alan Turing Institute

 Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has written to the UK's national institute for artificial intelligence (AI) to tell its bosses to refocus on defence and security.

 In a letter, Kyle stated that expanding the UK's AI capabilities was "critical" to national security and should be at the center of the activities of the Alan Turing Institute. In order to better reflect the institute's "renewed purpose," Kyle suggested that the leadership team be reorganized. 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".

 The National Institute for Data Science was established in 2015 under Prime Minister David Cameron's administration. Two years later, the institute expanded its scope to include AI. It receives funding from the public and received a grant of £100 million from the previous Conservative administration 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.

 The institute has recently focused more on ethical and responsible AI, and one of its recent reports looked at how romance scammers are using the technology more and more. However, the government, according to Kyle's letter, wants the Turing Institute to prioritize defense, a significant shift for the organization. In the letter to Dr. Douglas Gurr, chairman of the institute, Kyle wrote, "There is an opportunity for the ATI to seize this moment." "I believe the institute should build on its existing strengths, and reform itself further to prioritise its defence, national security and sovereign capabilities."

 Turing 2.0

 It's been a turbulent few months for the institute, which finds itself in survival mode in 2025.

 A review last year by UK Research and Innovation, the government funding body, found "a clear need for the governance and leadership structure of the Institute to evolve".

 At the end of 2024, 93 members of staff signed a letter expressing lack of confidence in its leadership team.

 In March, Jean Innes, who was appointed chief executive in July 2023, said the Turing needed to modernise and focus on AI projects, in an interview with the Financial Times.

 She said "a big strategic shift to a much more focused agenda on a small number of problems that have an impact in the real world".

 In April, Chief Scientist Mark Girolami said in an interview the organisation would be taking forward just 22 projects out of a portfolio of 104.

 Kyle's letter said the institute "should continue to receive the funding needed to implement reforms and deliver Turing 2.0".

 However, he stated that the "longer-term funding arrangement" of the ATI might be reviewed in the coming year. The use of AI in defence is as powerful as it is controversial.

 Google's parent company Alphabet faced criticism earlier this year for removing a self-imposed ban on developing AI weapons.

 Meanwhile, the British military and other forces are already investing in AI-enabled tools.

 The government's defence review said AI technologies "would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities".

 The review said "uncrewed and autonomous systems" could be used within the UK's conventional forces within the next five years.

 In one example, the review said the Royal Navy could use "acoustic detection systems powered by artificial intelligence" to monitor the "growing underwater threat from a modernising Russian submarine force".

 The United Kingdom has committed to spending at least 3.5% on core defense and up to 1.5% on investments related to security in order to meet the Nato spending target. Asked whether any government funding that goes to the Alan Turing Institute would now count towards the defence spending target, Downing Street said the 1.5% security element would include "investments that raise the overall resilience of our society".

 The tech firm Palantir has provided data operations software to the UK's armed forces.

 Louis Mosley, the head of Palantir UK, told the BBC that shift the institute's focus to AI defence technologies was a good idea.

 He stated, "Right now we face a daunting combination of darkening geopolitics and technological revolution - with the world becoming a more dangerous place right at the moment when artificial intelligence is changing the face of war and deterrence." In other words, the world is becoming more dangerous at the same time. "What that means in practice is that we are now in an AI arms race against our adversaries.

 "And the government is right that we need to put all the resources we have into staying ahead - because that is our best path to preserving peace."