The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Global Cybersecurity Alliance (GCSA) have joined forces to establish the Centre for AI and Cybersecurity Research. The new centre will bring together the expertise, research strengths, and professional resources of both institutions to drive innovation in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Its work will focus on advancing pioneering research, translating scientific discoveries into practical security applications, and developing new technologies, approaches, and governance models to address emerging challenges in the evolving digital landscape.
Professor Ho Chen, Chair of Cybersecurity at HKU School of Computing and Data Science, will serve as Acting Director of the Centre. The Centre will bring together researchers from HKU, GCSA, and international partner institutions, while engaging experts in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and technology governance for research and advisory roles to promote cross-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration.
The Centre is committed to bridging academic research and industry practice, with plans to progressively release research findings, security benchmarks, and open-source tools in AI and cybersecurity. The Centre’s key research directions include:
- Model Inherent Security and Trustworthy AI: Enhancing the security, interpretability, and robustness of large language models and generative AI.
- AI-Driven Automated Threat Defence: Utilising AI to improve perception and automated defence capabilities against complex cyberattacks.
- Security Assessment of Frontier Technologies: Evaluating potential security risks associated with next-generation technologies, such as embodied AI, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
- Global AI Security Standards and Governance: Researching AI security assessment standards and governance mechanisms to facilitate international dialogue and collaboration.
“The rapid evolution of AI introduces unprecedented security risks and governance challenges. The Centre will serve as a bridge connecting academic research, security testing, and industry application to accelerate the translation and deployment of AI security research through cross-disciplinary and international cooperation.”
-Professor Ho Chen
