UK Government calls on AI companies to build cyber defence capabilities
The UK Government will ask leading AI companies to partner on building automated cyber defence systems, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said Wednesday at CYBERUK, one of the country's top cybersecurity conferences.
The move comes as hostile states and criminal groups increasingly use AI to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. The National Cyber Security Centre handled more than double the number of nationally significant incidents in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Jarvis described the effort as a "generational endeavour" that could protect critical national networks by identifying and fixing vulnerabilities faster than human teams can manage.
New pledge targets board-level accountability
The Government is also launching a voluntary Cyber Resilience Pledge for UK businesses. Organisations can sign up by taking three actions:
- Making cyber security a board-level responsibility
- Signing up to the National Cyber Security Centre's free Early Warning service
- Requiring government-backed Cyber Essentials certification across supply chains
Cyber Security Minister Baroness Lloyd has written to nearly 180 business leaders urging them to commit. "The cyber threat facing UK businesses is serious, growing and evolving fast," she said. "AI is giving attackers capabilities that would have seemed extraordinary just a year ago."
£90 million investment for small and medium businesses
The Government will invest a further £90 million over three years to strengthen cyber defences among small and medium-sized businesses, using existing schemes run by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the National Cyber Security Centre.
The Pledge will form part of the National Cyber Action Plan, due for publication this summer. More than 500 businesses and organisations have been consulted in developing the plan.
Government workers involved in cyber policy or national security may want to explore AI learning paths for cybersecurity analysts to understand how these systems work in practice.
Your membership also unlocks:
