Britain bets big on AI to defend against the threats AI is helping create

The UK government is throwing £130 million at AI-powered cyber defenses, including plans to deploy autonomous AI agents across critical infrastructure to hunt down security flaws before attackers get there first.

The money is part of a wider £600 million-plus AI spending spree announced by the Treasury ahead of this week's Budget, with ministers also promising to tackle biological threats, bankroll British AI firms, and reduce the country's dependence on foreign technology.

Of the cyber funding, £60 million will go towards a new National Cyber Shield that uses agentic AI to bolster Britain's defenses. That includes a £25 million challenge fund for UK cybersecurity firms and plans for a regulatory sandbox to test autonomous security tools across critical infrastructure, government and industry.

Another £70 million will establish the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre, using AI to sniff out vulnerabilities across Britain's infrastructure and wider economy.

The announcement comes just days after the PHP2Shell security scare, which saw dozens …