Hong Kong – October 19, 2026 -- The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Global Cybersecurity Alliance (GCSA) have jointly established the Centre for AI and Cybersecurity Research, with four defined research directions spanning large language model security, automated threat defence, frontier-technology risk and global AI security standards.
Professor Ho Chen, Chair of Cybersecurity at the HKU School of Computing and Data Science, will serve as Acting Director. The Centre will bring together researchers from HKU, GCSA and international partner institutions. It will also engage experts in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and technology governance for research and advisory roles.
Centre plans to release security benchmarks and open-source tools
The Centre intends to progressively publish research findings, security benchmarks and open-source tools in AI and cybersecurity. It aims to tie research outcomes to real-world security scenarios and to explore new technologies, methodologies and governance frameworks.
Four research directions cover models, defence, frontier technology and standards
- Model Inherent Security and Trustworthy AI: improving the security, interpretability and robustness of large language models and generative AI.
- AI-Driven Automated Threat Defence: using AI to strengthen perception and automated defence against complex cyberattacks.
- Security Assessment of Frontier Technologies: evaluating security risks in 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 support international dialogue and collaboration.
Ho said the Centre will act as "a bridge connecting academic research, security testing, and industry application" to speed the translation and deployment of AI security research through cross-disciplinary and international cooperation.