Britain is caught in “a space between peace and war” complicated by the rise of artificial intelligence and other technologies dominated by powerful individuals and corporations, according to the new head of MI6.

Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, accused Russia of being insincere about Ukraine peace negotiations but made minimal reference to China as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, seeks to arrange a visit to Beijing.

Her central message was that the world was “more dangerous and contested now than for decades”, with emerging technologies “rewriting the reality of conflict as they converge to create science-fiction like tools”.

Power was “becoming more diffuse, more unpredictable as control over these technologies is shifting from states to corporations, and sometimes to individuals”, the spy chief said in a speech at MI6’s London headquarters.

Metreweli did not cite any specific examples, though US corporations dominate social media and Elon Musk, the owner of X, controls Starlink, the satellite communications network that is considered crucial for the Ukrainian military.

Previous UK spy chiefs have in the past raised explicit concerns about an authoritarian China one day controlling developments in AI and quantum computing.

Metreweli raised a series of generalised threats, including robots and drones powered by AI that could be “devastating on the battlefield”, lethal bioweapons and “hyper-personalised tools” that “could become a new vector for conflict and control”.

She said that though there was incredible promise in new technologies, there was “also peril”, highlighting that dangers could come not only from countries vying for supremacy but “as some algorithms become as powerful as states”. She said information was becoming “increasingly weaponised”.

The order of world institutions “designed in the ashes of the second world war” was, she said, being deliberately contested “from sea to space, from the battlefield to the boardroom” and “even our brains” through the deliberate spread of disinformation online.

She said Britain and the world were “operating in a space between peace and war” – which the spy agency, traditionally focused on running agents and working with human sources, had to contend with. She said MI6 had to become “fluent in technology” and anticipate the impact of future advances.

Metreweli, 48, took over as the head of MI6, the UK’s international spy agency, in September, becoming the first woman to hold the post. As its chief, or C, she is the only member of the organisation to be publicly named.

An Arabic speaker, her early career included running agents in the Middle East as well as deployments in eastern Europe. She was appointed to the top job by the prime minister after running MI6’s technology department, or Q branch.

Metreweli said she would “break with tradition” and not “give you a global threat tour”. This allowed her to sidestep any direct analysis of China, which has been accused of trying to run espionage and hacking campaigns against the UK.

In the autumn, a row broke out after the collapse of an espionage prosecution against two Britons, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, accused of spying for Beijing. A trial had not been able to go ahead under now-repealed Official Secrets Act legislation because a government witness would not describe China as an enemy of the UK.

China “will be a central part of the global transformation taking place this century”, she said, devoting a single paragraph to the country in her remarks. She added that “it is essential that we, as MI6, continue to inform the government’s understanding of China’s rise”, without describing Beijing as posing a challenge.

Ministers have yet to decide whether to grant planning permission to China’s proposed new super-embassy at London’s Royal Mint Court, while Starmer hopes to visit the country in January. MI6 emphasised that Metreweli’s aim was to focus on one or two issues, not to touch on the full range of topics within the agency’s remit.

Russia, the focus of remarks trailed in advance, was described as “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist, seeking to subjugate Ukraine and harass Nato”. She said Putin was not serious about trying to end the war in Ukraine, describing him as “dragging out negotiations” and shifting the burden of the conflict on to his own population.

Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s armed forces said on Monday that Britain needed to develop “a whole of nation response” to deal with the growing military threat posed by Russia.

Richard Knighton, the chief of the defence staff, said that while there was a “remote chance” of a direct attack on the UK, the invasion of a Nato ally in eastern Europe by Russia’s 1.1 million-strong army was more likely.

“We should be under no illusions that Russia has a massive, increasingly technically sophisticated, and now, highly combat-experienced, military,” he said, and that it has in Ukraine gradually shown greater tactical awareness and increased its proficiency in the use of drones.

He stopped short of hinting at a return to conscription, but noted that Germany and France had reintroduced limited forms of military service. Instead he argued that the UK needed “more people being ready to fight for their country” through increases in the size of the armed forces.