MI5 launches an AI Threat Assessment Centre

MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum said in his annual threat update on 13 October that MI5 launched an AI Threat Assessment Centre (AITAC) in 2026. Housed in MI5, it draws together expertise from bodies including the AI Security Institute, the NCA and the National Cyber Security Centre to produce all-source assessments. MI5's page on the centre says those assessments cover AI national security threats and that AITAC will provide assessment for a range of government departments. McCallum said AI is already "supercharging" the cybersecurity contest between attackers and defenders, that MI5 has caught terrorists seeking to exploit AI to improve their reconnaissance and attack methodologies, and that the misuse case he would attach greatest weight to, though not yet realised, is AI's potential to change the stakes on existing or even new bioweapons.

What it means for business: firms in the UK, especially AI developers and critical-infrastructure operators, may see AI misuse feature more prominently in government security assessments and the protective advice that follows.