Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the final report by the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence on National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of China’s policy to pursue a global collection mechanism for Chinese government genetic databases.

The UK is committed to promoting the ethical development and deployment of AI and other new technologies, in the UK and overseas, and we closely monitor related threats. The Ministry of Defence is supporting the National Science and Technology Council to develop our strategic understanding of the opportunities, threats and implications posed by new and emerging technologies. This includes close working with allies, partners, academia and civil society. We will shortly publish the first Defence AI Strategy setting out our approach to exploiting these critical technologies, as well as our intent to influence and shape global AI developments to promote security, stability, and democratic values.