Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Defence AI Investment Fund.

As set out when the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was published, the Government accepts the vision and recommendations of the SDR, including the recommendation to create a protected Defence AI investment Fund. The SDR recommends an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the UK's conventional forces. Learning the lessons from Ukraine, this would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities-changing the economics of Defence. This shift should be facilitated by the parallel development of a common digital foundation and digital targeting web as well as protected investment in AI research and development.