{
  "id": 11057674,
  "title": "U.K. accuses China of using academics to spy on AI and other tech research",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/u-k-accuses-china-of-using-academics-to-spy-on-ai-and-other-tech",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-30T22:19:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Japan Times",
    "slug": "japan-times",
    "url": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/10/01/world/politics/uk-china-academics-spy-ai-research/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "LONDON – Britain's MI5 spy agency issued a significant alert on Wednesday, warning of a Chinese organization's involvement in funding academic research on behalf of Beijing's state security service. The \"Espionage Alert\" revealed that over 100 U.K.-based academics had contributed to projects supported by the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). MI5 stated that the primary purpose of CGTRI is to fund academic research that directly enhances the technical capabilities of the MSS, Beijing's civilian intelligence service, for espionage purposes.",
  "summary": "MI5 said more than 100 U.K.-based academics had contributed to projects funded by a group with \"very strong ties\" to Beijing intelligence.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "UK accuses China of using academics to spy on AI and other tech research",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/uk-accuses-china-of-using-academics-to-spy-on-ai-and-other-tech",
        "published": "2026-09-30T18:16:44.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}