John Healey has pledged to use Wednesday’s budget to harness the power of artificial intelligence to bolster Britain’s security and prosperity against the risks in the accelerating global technology arms race.

As he prepares for his debut budget, the chancellor said that Andy Burnham’s government would commit hundreds of millions of pounds to develop a “distinctively British” approach to AI that would capitalise on the benefits of the frontier technology.

At a fork in the road as AI developments pose both existential threats and transformative economic potential, Healey said he would be making the biggest ever investment to guard against cyber risks and the disruptive potential of the technology.

As part of the measures in his tax and spending statement, he promised fresh investment for Britain’s AI Security Institute and other critical institutions, alongside allocating public money to support the use of the technology for good.

“AI will transform daily life: every firm, community, hospital, school and…