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Every Silicon AI News story involving United Kingdom, month by month, newest first.

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Safety & Security

UK cyber agency warns of AI ransomware attacks by 2028

The National Cyber Security Centre says AI-powered malware is “highly likely” to be used in a ransomware attack on UK critical infrastructure by 2028. Its chief warns of an “unprecedented rise” in incidents in the coming months.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre published its annual review and a new AI assessment on November 3. It judges it “highly likely” that Russia, China and other states will routinely use AI in cyber operations by 2028. Chief executive Richard Horne said AI has not invented new attacks. It exposes old weaknesses “at a scale that was once unimaginable”.

4 min read

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Policy & Law

UK puts £100M into an AI lab against biological threats

OpenAI and Anthropic add up to £200M in model credits, and Google DeepMind joins as a research partner. The lab is part of a wider AI package, with £120M more for the AI Security Institute, ahead of next week’s Budget.

On October 24, the UK government said it will set up the AI Biosecurity Lab, an independent non-profit. It will use AI to spot biological threats early and speed up vaccines and treatments. The government puts in £100 million. OpenAI and Anthropic give model credits and access, not cash.

4 min read
Business

Barclays to cut 5,000 jobs, partly because of AI, it says

The British bank says about 5% of its staff will go, and about 60% of the cuts are in support jobs, including developers. Its leaders say AI makes people more productive, but call it only “the icing on the cake”.

Barclays announced the cuts with its results for July to September, when its profit before tax rose 12%. The bank says the cuts are part of a plan to save more than £1.1 billion in 2027.

3 min read
Policy & Law

UK watchdog wants special status for Microsoft and Copilot

The UK’s competition regulator says Microsoft has a strong and lasting hold on business software, from Windows to Word, Teams and Copilot. If the status is confirmed by February, it can set rules, and it will first look at whether rival AI tools can compete with Copilot. Microsoft disagrees.

On October 16, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed to give Microsoft “strategic market status” in its business software. The CMA found Microsoft strong in five areas, including PC operating systems and office software. Comments are due by November 13, and the final decision by February 13, 2027.

4 min read
Safety & Security

Nvidia pledges $250M of computing to UK AI safety research

British researchers will get computing power worth $50 million a year for five years, Nvidia says, to make AI agents safer and more secure. Its chief executive, Jensen Huang, also said that no AI cyber incident is acceptable.

Nvidia said it will give British researchers computing power worth $250 million over five years, for research on the safety and security of AI agents. Most of it goes to the wider UK research community, and a share to labs at Oxford, UCL and Imperial College London. The value is Nvidia’s own estimate, and the terms are not agreed yet.

3 min read
Safety & Security

AI child abuse images already top all of 2025, IWF says

The UK watchdog found 6,310 illegal AI-made images in the first half of 2026, 40% more than in all of last year. It asks the EU to agree a long-delayed law on detecting such material.

The Internet Watch Foundation said on October 5 that its analysts assessed 6,310 AI-generated images of child sexual abuse from January to June 2026. That is 40% more than the 4,512 it found in the whole of 2025. Girls appear in 98% of the images where age and gender were recorded.

3 min read

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