MI6 door 'is always open': UK spy chief Richard Moore urges unhappy Russians to share secrets (WATCH)

In a rare public speech, Richard Moore, the head of Britain's MI6 foreign spy service, extended an invitation to disaffected Russians, encouraging them to share their secrets with British intelligence services. Speaking on Wednesday in Prague, Moore urged those with valuable information to follow in the footsteps of others who have collaborated with the agency over the past 18 months.

Emphasizing the open-door policy, he assured potential sources that their offers of help would be handled with utmost discretion and professionalism, which are the hallmarks of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Moore reassured that any information shared would be kept secure and confidential.

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"I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 months and join hands with us," Moore said. "Our door is always open. We will handle their offers of help with the discretion and professionalism for which my service is famed. Their secrets will always be safe with us."

Moore’s speech — at a POLITICO event at the British ambassador’s residence in Prague — marked only the second time he has given a public address in his historically-secretive role as MI6’s ‘C’.

The UK spy chief used the speech to argue that Russia is failing in its military aims in Ukraine, and address the growing influence of AI in intelligence. 

The chief of Britain's MI6 agency claimed that British spies are already using artificial intelligence to obstruct the flow of weapons to Russia. He forecast that Western spies will increasingly have to concentrate on tracking the nefarious use of AI by adversarial governments. Richard Moore said his staff at Britain’s foreign intelligence agency “are combining their skills with AI and bulk data to identify and disrupt the flow of weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.”

Moore also told an audience at the British ambassador’s residence in Prague that Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine had run out of steam and “there appears to be little prospect of the Russian forces regaining momentum.” He said Ukraine’s counteroffensive was proving “a hard grind,” but he was optimistic it would succeed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration, according to Moore, is plagued by "venality, infighting, and callous incompetence," and Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny by the Wagner Group of mercenaries has "exposed the inexorable decay of the unstable autocracy over which Putin presides."

The Central African Republic, Mali, and other leaders were allegedly offered a "Faustian pact" of safety in exchange for turning over their natural wealth to Russia, according to his accusations that Russia utilised Wagner as an instrument of imperialism in Africa.

Moore also criticised Iran for supplying Russia with drones and other weapons, which he claimed "provoked internal quarrels at the highest level of the regime in Tehran." Moore stated this policy "has provoked further conflict in Ukraine."

MI boss confident AI won't replace human spies

Moore noted that human spies will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) even as machines make information "infinitely more accessible". “Some have asked whether [AI] will put intelligence services like mine out of business? In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true,” he said, pointing to the “unique characteristics” of human spies in the field.

“As AI trawls the ocean of open source, there will be even greater value in landing, with a well-cast fly, the secrets that lie beyond the reach of its nets,” Moore added.

Meanwhile, calling China the “single most important strategic focus” for MI6, Moore said, “we will increasingly be tasked with obtaining intelligence on how hostile states are using AI in damaging, reckless and unethical ways.”

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The British intelligence services still find it unusual to discuss spying in public. Up until 1992, the government would not even acknowledge the existence of MI6, and its officials rarely make public appearances. Moore picked the capital of the Czech Republic, where the 1968 "Prague Spring" freedom uprising that was put down by Soviet tanks, as the location for his speech on Wednesday.

The power and danger presented by AI were also discussed in Moore's lone other address given in public since taking the helm of MI6 over three years ago. He criticised the West of being sluggish to recognise the disruptive effects of AI and of falling behind enemies who are "pouring money and ambition" into AI and other cutting-edge technologies in his November 2021 address.

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Artificial Intelligence
• MI6
• United Kingdom