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UK minister says AI Security Institute is evaluating latest models

In a speech on 12 October, minister Kanishka Narayan said the AI Security Institute is evaluating the latest models, including Gemini 4 Argon, and has kept pre-release access.

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Check our sources · 5 facts from 2 sources
Illustration: An inspection gate over a roller track with a sealed crate waiting before it; the green frame stands for the institute's evaluations of the latest models.Illustration made with AI for ai notis
source · Illustration made with AI for ai notis; not a picture of what happened

Key points

  1. Kanishka Narayan, the UK's Minister for Artificial Intelligence, gave the speech at Base One, Imperial College London, on 12 October 2026.
  2. He said AI scientists at the AI Security Institute are now conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models, including Gemini 4 Argon.
  3. He said the government has worked with the US government and the labs to retain the Institute's access to the most powerful models before release; the speech names no lab.

What happened

Kanishka Narayan, the UK's Minister for Artificial Intelligence, gave a speech at Base One, Imperial College London, on 12 October 2026. He said scientists at the UK's AI Security Institute are now conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models, including Gemini 4 Argon, to identify risks early.

Narayan said the government has been working closely with the US government and the labs to retain access for the Institute to the most powerful AI models before they are released. A government news release of the same day says the Institute's evaluations follow work with leading AI developers and the US Government.

What it means for you

Our view

The speech names only Gemini 4 Argon. It does not say whether that model is released or which other models are being evaluated. Narayan speaks of retaining access, so the arrangement existed already, and the speech names no lab and sets out no terms.

This confirms ongoing government testing before release in the UK and little more. If you buy models for work, ask your vendor whether its frontier models go through government pre-release evaluation and what you will be told of the outcome.

It adds no new facts.

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Check our sources

Every sentence above is checked against these 2 sources.

1 Building a Safer, More Secure Britain in the age of AIGOV.UK · 12 Oct 2026 · 4 facts Open the source archived copy
  1. Kanishka Narayan, the UK's Minister for Artificial Intelligence, gave the speech "Building a Safer, More Secure Britain in the age of AI" at Base One, Imperial College London, published on 12 October 2026.

    Building a Safer, More Secure Britain in the age of AI. Speech delivered by the Minister for Artificial Intelligence. From: Cabinet Office, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and The Rt Hon Kanishka Narayan MP. Published: 12 October 2026. Location: Base One, Imperial College London. Delivered on: 12 October 2026 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
    cite
  2. In the speech Narayan said "AI scientists at the AI Security Institute are now conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models".

    And I can confirm that AI scientists at the AI Security Institute are now conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models, including Gemini 4 Argon to identify risks early, to test robust safeguards, to help keep people safe.
    cite
  3. In the speech Narayan named Gemini 4 Argon among those models, saying the evaluations are "including Gemini 4 Argon to identify risks early".

    conducting rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of models, including Gemini 4 Argon to identify risks early, to test robust safeguards, to help keep people safe.
    cite
  4. In the speech Narayan said "we’ve been working closely with the US government, the labs" to "retain access for Britain’s AI Security Institute to the most powerful AI models before they are released."

    That is why, over the last few weeks, we've been working closely with the US government, the labs - from His Majesty's gathering of leading AI developers at Dumfries House in Scotland to discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York - to retain access for Britain's AI Security Institute to the most powerful AI models before they are released.
    cite
2 Britain steps up national defences against growing AI risksGOV.UK · 12 Oct 2026 · 1 fact Open the source archived copy
  1. A GOV.UK news release dated 12 October 2026, "Britain steps up national defences against growing AI risks", says the AI Security Institute is conducting "rigorous evaluations of the latest generation of advanced AI models" following work with leading AI developers and the US Government.

    cite

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