Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the signed memorandum of understanding between the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and Google Cloud to accelerate the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the UK defence sector.

The Defence AI Strategy (June 2021) set out a vision to better engage with industry and highlight the importance of effective public-private partnerships. In response to the strategy, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Google Cloud UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 14 June 2023 to enable them to work together on delivering safe and responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Science & Technology research for the benefit of UK defence. In due course, progress consequent upon the MOU will be reviewed.