MI5 reveals AI threat centre as McCallum warns of faster cyber attacks

MI5 has announced a new AI Threat Assessment Centre as its director general warned that artificial intelligence is accelerating the contest between cyber attackers and defenders. Sir Ken McCallum disclosed the team in his annual threat update at Thames House on 13 October, placing technological resilience alongside protection against terrorism and hostile states.

What the new centre does

The centre, known as AITAC, is based within MI5. The service says it brings together expertise from organisations including the AI Security Institute and the National Cyber Security Centre to produce assessments for government departments. The speech also named the National Crime Agency among its partners. Its task is to evaluate threats across available intelligence, rather than treat every claim about AI as an established danger.

Existing misuse and future risks

McCallum said terrorists had sought to use AI to improve reconnaissance and attack methods. He identified personalised propaganda and AI-enabled drones as areas of concern. These are the director general’s assessments; the public speech does not disclose the underlying intelligence for independent examination. He separately described AI-assisted biological weapons as a potential misuse that had not yet been realised. The distinction matters: a warning about capability is not evidence that such an attack has happened.

Resilience becomes a core mission

MI5 has elevated its protective work, called Protect, to a core mission alongside its two operational roles. McCallum urged critical infrastructure operators and defence suppliers to follow official advice on sabotage, hostile reconnaissance and drones. The new institutional response is the significant development in this report. It goes beyond the separate investigations and attribution statements around RAF Fairford already covered by Accordmere.

What remains unknown

The announcement establishes the centre’s remit and partners, but does not publish a budget, staffing total or a timetable for public assessments. Our photograph shows McCallum in October 2020; it does not depict this week’s speech.