---
title: UK pre-Budget package: £60m agentic-AI "National Cyber Shield", a £70m AI vulnerability-finding centre for critical infrastructure, and £120m more for the AI Security Institute | ctxsec
url: https://ctxsec.com/items/uk-pre-budget-ai-security-cyber-shield-nerv-aisi
description: ""
status: "confirmed (HM Treasury announcement, Oct 24); funding to be set out in the Budget next week; no sandbox details published"
published: 2026-10-24
---

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confirmed (HM Treasury announcement, Oct 24); funding to be set out in the Budget next week; no sandbox details published

2026-10-24

### UK pre-Budget package: £60m agentic-AI "National Cyber Shield", a £70m AI vulnerability-finding centre for critical infrastructure, and £120m more for the AI Security Institute

HM Treasury announced on **Oct 24** an AI package that the Chancellor will set out in next week's Budget. The security parts:

- **£60m National Cyber Shield** using agentic AI for UK cyber defence, including a **£25m challenge fund** for UK AI and security firms and scoping of a **regulatory sandbox** for deploying agentic security tools across critical national infrastructure, the public sector and industry.
- **£70m National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre** that will use AI tools to find vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure and the economy.
- **£120m more for the AI Security Institute** for model testing and technical standards.
- **£165m National AI Biosecurity Initiative**, including a £100m AI Biosecurity Lab backed by up to £200m in model credits from OpenAI and Anthropic.

No regulator, legal basis or entry criteria have been named for the sandbox yet. It is also not yet clear whether NERV will only scan from outside or ask operators for deeper access.

Sources: [GOV.UK / HM Treasury: Chancellor unveils Britain's ambitious plan for AI (Oct 24)](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-unveils-britains-ambitious-plan-for-ai) · [SecNews.co.uk analysis (Oct 24)](https://secnews.co.uk/2026/10/national-cyber-shield-agentic-ai-sandbox-cni-nerv/)