The head of the US government's Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is leaving the unit this month to take a job with a quantum computing company, WIRED has learned. Rick Muller's pending departure from IARPA comes amid broader efforts to downsize the United States intelligence community, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees IARPA. A person familiar with Muller's plans confirmed to WIRED his departure from IARPA. Born during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, IARPA is tasked with testing AI, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies that could aid the missions of spy agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. The Trump administration reportedly has been moving to cut the workforces of intelligence agencies as part of the president's broad efforts to dismantle diversity programs and streamline government operations.

The UK intelligence agencies are lobbying the government to weaken surveillance laws they argue place a "burdensome" limit on their ability to train artificial intelligence models with large amounts of personal data. The proposals would make it easier for GCHQ, MI6 and MI5 to use certain types of data, by relaxing safeguards designed to protect people's privacy and prevent the misuse of sensitive information. Privacy experts and civil liberties groups have expressed alarm at the move, which would unwind some of the legal protection introduced in 2016 after disclosures by Edward Snowden about intrusive state surveillance. The UK's spy agencies are increasingly using AI-based systems to help analyse the vast and growing quantities of data they hold. Privacy campaigners argue rapidly advancing AI capabilities require stronger rather than weaker regulation.

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Britain's spy agencies have given a contract to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host classified material in a deal aimed at boosting the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) for espionage, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Britain's GCHQ spy agency championed the procurement of a high-security cloud system and it will be used by sister services MI5 and MI6, as well as other government departments such as the Ministry of Defence during joint operations, the report added. The agreement was signed this year with AWS, Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) cloud service unit, and the data of all the agencies will be held in Britain, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. GCHQ said it would not comment on reports about its relationships with tech suppliers.

WHEN IT comes to using artificial intelligence (AI), intelligence agencies have been at it longer than most. In the cold war America's National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) explored early AI to help transcribe and translate the enormous volumes of Soviet phone-intercepts they began hoovering up in the 1960s and 1970s. Your browser does not support the audio element. Yet the technology was immature. One former European intelligence officer says his service did not use automatic transcription or translation in Afghanistan in the 2000s, relying on native speakers instead.

WHEN IT COMES to artificial intelligence (AI), spy agencies have been at it longer than most. In the cold war, America's National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) explored early AI to help transcribe and translate the enormous volumes of Soviet phone-intercepts they began hoovering up in the 1960s. Yet the technology was immature. One former European intelligence officer says his service did not use automatic transcription or translation in Afghanistan in the 2000s, relying on native speakers instead. Now the spooks are hoping to do better. The trends that have made AI attractive for business--more data, better algorithms, and more processing power to make it all hum--are giving spy agencies big ideas, too.

The UK's GCHQ has revealed how AI is set be used to boost national security. The UK's top intelligence and security body, GCHQ, is betting big on artificial intelligence: the organization has revealed how it wants to use AI to boost national security. In a new paper titled "Pioneering a New National Security," GCHQ's analysts went to lengths to explain why AI holds the key to better protection of the nation. The volumes of data that the organization deals with, argued GCHQ, places security agencies and law enforcement bodies under huge pressure; AI could ease that burden, improving not only the speed, but also the quality of experts' decision making. "AI, like so many technologies, offers great promise for society, prosperity and security. It's impact on GCHQ is equally profound," said Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ.

MI5's deputy head will take the top job at the spy agency next month promising a sharper focus on China and to work more closely with the private sector in harnessing artificial intelligence in tackling hostile state and terrorist activity. Ken McCallum, a career MI5 officer, has been the agency's deputy director general since April 2017 and was seen by insiders as the heir apparent at an organisation that prides itself on internal appointments to its leading position. The Glaswegian is the youngest ever boss of MI5, although the organisation will only say he is "in his 40s" – and replaces Sir Andrew Parker, who had been due to step down in April after seven years as the director general in charge of the the UK's domestic security service. His appointment was announced by the home secretary, Priti Patel, on Monday. "MI5's purpose is hugely motivating," McCallum said.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has a problem, it collects too much data and might miss something. "That's the problem we are dealing with right now, given the threats are at the unprecedented level," recently installed Director-General of Security Mike Burgess said during his 38th day on the job. "There is the potential to miss something, the application of data analytics helps us to reduce the possibility of that being an event." ASIO is currently undertaking an enterprise-wide transformation that it believes will place it "at the forefront of agencies" using artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to its recent annual report. Providing an update on the project, Burgess said the organisation has so far put a new operating structure and model in place, as well as other foundational work subject to further government approvals.

The intelligence community's (IC) stock in trade has always been knowing what nobody else knows. Now it's looking to tap into new technology to expand its ability to forecast geopolitical events in several ways, including finding out what everybody knows. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the IC's lead research arm, is looking to bring artificial intelligence to bear in a number of intelligence-gathering areas. This includes two projects at opposite ends of the spy game: at one end, intercepting and interpreting classified communications, and at the other, finding a way to read the tea leaves in massive amounts of public information. IARPA recently launched a competition to support its Mercury program, which focuses on the more familiar (to the public anyway) element of spycraft known as signals intelligence.

The head of MI6, Alex Younger, says there is a need for "fourth-generation espionage" as adversaries take advantage of "blurred lines" between the cyber and physical worlds. Here are some of the ways Britain's security services are adopting, and responding to, modern technology. These are potentially valuable tools for agencies seeking to spot leads within vast volumes of data. The Government's latest counter-terrorism strategy states that developments in artificial intelligence will "allow us to filter and identify crucial information faster than ever", adding that the power of quantum computing can be combined with AI to improve the speed at which large datasets can be sorted and mined for key information. Data analysis capabilities are seen as particularly important for monitoring more than 20,000 former MI5 "subjects of interest" who are not under active investigation.