Britain’s MI5 has accused a Chinese research institute of funding UK academics to boost China’s spying capabilities in AI. The agency, Britain’s domestic security service, issued the public alert on Wednesday, September 30. It says more than 100 UK-based academics contributed to projects funded by the China General Technology Research Institute, or CGTRI.
MI5 says CGTRI exists mainly to fund academic research that directly improves the technical spying capability of China’s Ministry of State Security. The agency says the institute has very strong ties to that ministry. That ministry serves as China’s civilian intelligence agency. CGTRI also goes by the name China Academy of General Technology, or CAGT. Meanwhile, the funded work covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems, and steganography, which means hiding information inside messages or objects.
The alert also marks a first for the agency, which says it has not previously published such a warning independently. MI5 states that this activity supports Chinese espionage and threatens UK national security. According to the agency, many academics joined the projects in good faith and did not know about the institute’s ties. However, MI5 now tells researchers to stop working with CGTRI and to stop accepting its grants.
Researchers who continue their involvement after this warning risk prosecution under Britain’s National Security Act 2023, according to the agency. That law targets espionage and foreign interference. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the alert exposes efforts by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the expertise and research of British academics. He also wrote to university leaders, according to reports, and urged them to end any relationship with CGTRI.
China has rejected the accusation outright, and its embassy in London called the claims “entirely fabricated and constitutes malicious slander.” The embassy also urged Britain to stop spreading falsehoods and to stop undermining educational exchanges between the two countries.
