Britain plans £120 million for its AI testing lab, ten times what the US spends on its own
The UK plans £120 million, about $160 million, for its AI Security Institute, the government lab that tests before release, Semafor reported, part of an AI package previewed before Wednesday's budget. The package also includes £60 million for a fund and £18 million for domestic chip design.
The US counterpart, at the Commerce Department, runs on about $10 million to $15 million a year and has had no permanent director since July. The White House has requested $27 million for it next year. Britain's institute has more than 100 staff. Politico reported in September that the White House asked OpenAI and Anthropic to hold new models back from British testers until US officials had reviewed them, an instruction that is hard to enforce with a lab a tenth the size. SourcesB
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This story ran in the Morning Brief of October 29th 2026.