The UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5 issued an unprecedented "Security Service Espionage Alert" on 30 September stating that the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) — also known as the China Academy of General Technology — is a front company for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) whose primary purpose is to fund research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage. The alert says CGTRI funds academic work in China on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications and steganography, and that more than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to MSS-funded projects via CGTRI, in some cases unaware the funding originates with the Chinese state security service. UK institutions are urged to review ongoing or planned collaborations with CGTRI and trace funding sources, with MI5 warning that continued collaboration could lead to prosecution under the National Security Act 2023 for providing material assistance to a foreign intelligence service. The Chinese embassy in London called the accusations "imaginary and purely fabricated". The alert gives allied universities a concrete foreign-influence warning directly relevant to Australian and New Zealand research-collaboration screening.

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