AI companies are being urged to help strengthen UK cyber defence as ministers warn automated threats are rising fast.
The call was made at CYBERUK, where security minister Dan Jarvis told industry leaders and experts that stronger AI-powered defences are needed to protect critical networks.
Jarvis described the effort as a “generational endeavour” aimed at building systems that can autonomously identify and address vulnerabilities at a speed and scale no human can match.
He said: “Today I’m making a call to action for leading AI companies and UK innovators to work with the UK Government to build AI cyber defence capabilities.
“We’ve already made the UK a top destination for AI investment and want to take this work a step further in a generational endeavour to protect the UK from a new era of threats.
“This work sits alongside all the action we’re taking, through the National Cyber Action Plan, to work with businesses and strengthen cybersecurity across the country.”
The move follows a recent week from ministers that increasingly advanced AI systems are reshaping the cyber threat landscape for UK businesses.
According to the government, the number of nationally significant incidents handled by the National Cyber Security Centre more than doubled in 2025, with hostile states and criminal actors increasingly using automated AI systems to identify and exploit weaknesses.
Alongside the call for closer work with AI developers, the government is inviting businesses to sign a voluntary Cyber Resilience Pledge intended to raise security standards.
To sign up, organisations will be asked to make cyber security a board-level responsibility, join the National Cyber Security Centre’s free Early Warning service, and require Cyber Essentials certification across their supply chains. Cyber Essentials is a government-backed baseline security standard.
A further £90m is also due to be invested over the next three years through existing schemes run by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the National Cyber Security Centre, with part of the funding aimed at strengthening the resilience of small and medium-sized businesses.
Cyber security minister Baroness Lloyd has already written to the chief executives and chairs of more than 180 leading UK businesses ahead of the pledge’s formal launch later this year.
Baroness Lloyd said: “The cyber threat facing UK businesses is serious, growing and evolving fast. AI is giving attackers capabilities that would have seemed extraordinary just a year ago, and no organisation can afford to be complacent.
“Everyone has a role to play in bolstering Britain’s cyber defences.
“That’s why I have written to nearly two hundred business leaders across the country, calling on them to act by signing the new Cyber Resilience Pledge.
“The three actions we’re asking companies take are practical, achievable, and are proven to work – there is no good reason not to act.
“Cyber resilience isn’t just a technical issue; it’s a board responsibility, and we’re asking every boardroom in Britain to prove they treat it as one.”
The pledge will form part of the National Cyber Action Plan, which the government said will be published this summer after consultation with more than 500 businesses and organisations.
