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

MI6 using AI to disrupt weapons supply to Russia; Moore urges Russians to spy for Britain; AI can be asset & threat; Moore wants West to win AI race

British spies are already using artificial intelligence to hamper the supply of weapons to Russia, the head of Britain's MI6 agency said on July 19, predicting that Western spies will increasingly have to focus on tracking the malign use of AI by hostile states.

In a rare public speech, Richard Moore also urged Russians who oppose the invasion of Ukraine to spy for Britain, saying others had already done so since the war began.

“Our door is always open," he said.

In a speech that depicted artificial intelligence as both a huge potential asset and a major threat, 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, Mr. Moore said, "we will increasingly be tasked with obtaining intelligence on how hostile states are using AI in damaging, reckless and unethical ways”.

Mr. 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.