Written Evidence Submitted by RAND Europe

The development of AI capacity and expertise is recognised as a key element of national security by UK Defence. To this end, RAND has collected evidence from our previous work, as well as open-source information, to respond to the questions in this inquiry. This response first considers the priorities set out by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to advance AI capacity [Question 1]. It then looks at the current strengths of the UK AI sector with defence applications [Question 2]. It follows by exploring means by which the UK Government can propel domestic AI expertise in industry [Question 3] and help embed AI companies into the defence supply chain [Question 4]. Finally, it discusses how to promote the UK AI sector in the context of AUKUS Pillar two [Question 5].