Britain’s MI6 chief says his spies are using AI to disrupt flow of weapons to Russia

Richard Moore warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, and depicted machine learning as both a huge potential asset and a major threat

But he said that China remains the ‘single most important strategic focus’ and ‘greatest priority’ for MI6

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Head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency Richard Moore chose to give Wednesday’s address in the Czech capital, home of the 1968 “Prague Spring” freedom movement that was crushed by Soviet tanks. Photo: AP

Published: 6:09pm, 19 Jul 2023

British spies are already using artificial intelligence to hamper the supply of weapons to Russia, the head of Britain’s MI6 agency said on Wednesday, predicting that Western spies will increasingly have to focus on tracking the malign use of AI by hostile states.

In a speech that depicted machine learning as both a huge potential asset and a major threat, Richard Moore said his staff at Britain’s foreign intelligence agency “are combining their skills with AI and bulk data to identify and disrupt the flow of weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine”.

Calling China the “single most important strategic focus” for his agency, Moore said, “we will increasingly be tasked with obtaining intelligence on how hostile states are using AI in damaging, reckless and unethical ways”.

Headquarters of MI6 in London. Speaking publicly about spycraft is still something of a novelty for Britain’s intelligence services. The government refused even to confirm the existence of MI6 until 1992, and public speeches by its leaders are infrequent. Photo: File Photo

Moore, who has previously warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, said his service “together with our allies, intends to win the race to master the ethical and safe use of AI”.

But he said AI would not replace the need for human spies, arguing that the “human factor” will remain crucial in an era of rapidly evolving machine learning.

“As AI trawls the ocean of open source, there will be even greater value in landing, with a well-cast fly, the secrets that lie beyond the reach of its nets,” he said.

He argued that “the unique characteristics of human agents in the right places will become still more significant”, highlighting spies’ ability to “influence decisions inside a government or terrorist group”.

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