Editorial

Laboratory for AI Security Research to drive innovation in UK national security

Public-private collaboration spans government departments and delivery partners Plexal, University of Oxford, The Alan Turing Institute and Queen’s University Belfast

Posted 19 December 2024 by Christine Horton


A new public-private partnership is bringing together industry, academia and Government experts to research AI and its impact on UK national security.

The Laboratory for AI Security Research (LASR) was launched by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in November with more than £8 million of government funding. It brings together Government departments and agencies with innovation and research teams from Plexal, University of Oxford, The Alan Turing Institute and Queen’s University Belfast.

LASR will act as a new centre of excellence for AI Security Research. The Lab will engage with the broader cyber and AI ecosystem nationally and internationally to support the work of dedicated researchers, who will explore vulnerabilities in AI systems.

The programme is seeking public and private input. Programme partners and the UK Government said they are committed to “research outputs where appropriate, supporting wider growth and prosperity.”

Delivery partners’ responsibilities

Plexal, the innovation company headquartered on London’s Here East campus, will convene LASR’s multi-disciplinary approach. It will bring industry and partners together “to collaborate on AI security innovation, engaging with private industry, addressing emerging security needs driven by increasing AI adoption by connecting innovation with policy requirements to support commercialisation of these solutions.”

“AI adoption presents tremendous economic and societal opportunities, but we must be mindful of threats emerging,” said Saj Huq, CCO and head of innovation at Plexal. “Through this world-class LASR partnership, Plexal will drive the development and commercialisation of breakthrough solutions to enhance resilience of public and private sectors, creating growth vectors for the UK’s tech ecosystem.”

Oxford University will draw on expertise across the University’s research ecosystem. Five departments from the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) will support an initial cohort of ten doctoral students conducting fundamental and applied research into AI and Machine Learning security. The Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre will conduct investigations into emerging system risks, with a particular focus on AI supply chains and national cybersecurity preparedness.

The Alan Turing Institute, the national institute for data science and AI, will deliver research on AI security, addressing challenges such as understanding vulnerabilities and detecting interference in AI models and exploring how to build safeguards to prevent them from being used for malicious purposes.

The Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), the UK’s national innovation and knowledge centre for cybersecurity based at Queen’s University Belfast, will build on its existing facility with a dedicated maker space for Cyber-AI. The hub will provide resources for collaboration between industry and academia to advance research and innovation, and to develop talent in the AI security domain.

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