{"id":9844,"date":"2026-05-27T20:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9844"},"modified":"2026-05-27T20:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:02:29","slug":"uk-cyberspying-chief-ai-an-unstoppable-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9844","title":{"rendered":"UK cyberspying chief: AI \u2018an unstoppable force\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Jill Lawless<\/p>\n

The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence is \u201can unstoppable force\u201d that is being weaponized in ways that fall just short of traditional warfare, the U.K. cyberspying chief warned Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Anne Keast-Butler, director of the communications intelligence agency GCHQ, said that Britain and its allies are in \u201ca space between peace and war\u201d as Russia increases its \u201cdaily hybrid activity\u201d against the West \u2014 even as Russian combat deaths in Ukraine approach 500,000.<\/p>\n

She said that the West risks losing the conflict in cyberspace against Russia and other adversaries, unless citizens, companies and governments treat cybersecurity with much greater urgency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent three decades working in national security, and the risk of miscalculation is as high as I\u2019ve ever seen it,\u201d Keast-Butler said in a speech at a World War II code-breaking center near London.<\/p>\n

She said that \u201ctech companies are releasing AI-driven innovations at a remarkable pace, with untold consequences, as algorithms are weaponized often just below the threshold of traditional warfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is an unstoppable force with great opportunity,\u201d she added. \u201cBut it is also a force with risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Keast-Butler singled out Russia as a threat, accusing Moscow of \u201crelentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust,\u201d as well as stealing technology and plotting sabotage and assassination attempts.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia is scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the U.K. and Europe, stretching from the seabed to cyberspace,\u201d she told an audience of computing experts, diplomats, journalists and senior officials.<\/p>\n

She said that one focus for British spies is \u201cexposing Russia\u2019s intent, motive and underwater capabilities\u201d to target undersea telecoms cables and energy pipelines.<\/p>\n

At the same time, she said that Russian troops are \u201cgoing backwards on the battlefield,\u201d with new intelligence suggesting \u201calmost half a million Russian soldiers\u201d have been killed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The speech is the latest in a string of warnings from Western spies and intelligence experts that Russia is stepping up hostile activity in a \u201cgray zone\u201d that falls just below the threshold of war.<\/p>\n

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In recent months, authorities in countries including Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway have alleged that hackers linked to Russia targeted their critical infrastructure, including power plants and dams.<\/p>\n

The head of the U.K.\u2019s National Cyber Security Centre, Richard Horne, warned last month that hostile states including Russia, China and Iran are behind the most serious cyberattacks the country faces. He said such attacks could increase dramatically if Britain becomes involved in an international conflict.<\/p>\n

Keast-Butler said that rapid advances in artificial intelligence mean that \u201cthe ground beneath our feet is shifting\u201d and there is a \u201cnarrowing window for the U.K. and allies to stay ahead\u201d of countries such as China, a science and technology \u201csuperpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that the threat extends to space, where thousands of satellites have been launched in the last few years, and \u201cboth China and Russia are investing heavily \u2026 to support both peace and war ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spy chief said that GCHQ is developing a plan to use cutting-edge agentic AI for a national cybershield that could protect U.K. infrastructure and businesses from cyberattacks \u2014 though it\u2019s thought to be several years from completion.<\/p>\n

Harnessed responsibly, she said, AI can help spies \u201cenhance algorithms, translate foreign languages, and find needles in haystacks quicker than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keast-Butler also said that the U.K.-U.S. intelligence partnership is \u201cfundamental for the security of both our nations.\u201d She spoke as U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d foreign policy platform and disregard for longtime allies strain the relationship between London and Washington.<\/p>\n

GCHQ, short for Government Communications Headquarters, is the U.K.\u2019s electronic and cyberintelligence agency. It works alongside the domestic security service MI5 and the foreign intelligence agency MI6.<\/p>\n

Keast-Butler, the first woman to head the agency, delivered the GCHQ director\u2019s annual lecture speech at the agency\u2019s World War II headquarters of Bletchley Park, a manor house 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptographers, crossword puzzlers, chess masters and other experts worked to crack Nazi Germany\u2019s supposedly unbreakable secret codes.<\/p>\n

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Their work both shortened the war and hastened the birth of modern computing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne Keast-Butler, director of the communications intelligence agency GCHQ, said that Britain and its allies are in a space between peace and war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUK cyberspying chief: AI \u2018an unstoppable force\u2019 - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9844\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK cyberspying chief: AI \u2018an unstoppable force\u2019 - 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