MI5 accuses China of espionage through academics in artificial intelligence research

Britain’s counter-intelligence agency MI5 today issued an unprecedented espionage warning, accusing China of exploiting British academics to advance research in artificial intelligence in the service of state espionage, as Reuters reports.

According to Reuters, MI5 says the organisation China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) has funded academic research on topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communication systems and steganography, on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). More than 100 British academics have contributed to projects funded by CGTRI.

As quoted by Reuters, MI5 stresses that “CGTRI’s main purpose is funding academic research that directly improves the MSS’s technical capacity for espionage”. The warning comes at a delicate moment, as the British government seeks better trade relations with Beijing.

Anyone who continues cooperating with this organisation risks prosecution under the UK’s National Security Act 2023. Security Minister Dan Jarvis wrote to all British university rectors, asking staff to sever relations with the organisation, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in London called the warning “completely fabricated and malicious slander”, while Beijing denied the accusations as “baseless and pure invention”.