diff --git a/.github/workflows/gatk-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/gatk-tests.yml
index 31b9bb1fc68..c57d3b33f88 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gatk-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gatk-tests.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
     name: check if the environment has privileges
     outputs:
       google-credentials: ${{ steps.google-credentials.outputs.defined }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     steps:
       - id: google-credentials
         env:
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
 
   buildDocker:
     name: build and push gatk docker to artifacts
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     steps:
       - name: checkout gatk
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
 
   #Run our non-docker tests
   test:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     needs: check-secrets
     strategy:
       matrix:
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ jobs:
   #Run our docker tests
   testOnDocker:
     needs: [buildDocker, check-secrets]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     strategy:
       matrix:
         java: [ 17.0.6+10 ]
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ jobs:
 
   #run wdl validation on WDLs in the scripts directory
   scriptsWdlValidation:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     name: Validate script WDLs using womtools
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ jobs:
 
   #run wdl validation on generated WDLs
   generatedWdlValidation:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     name: Validate generated WDLs using womtools
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ jobs:
 
   #Run our various targeted medium scale wdl wiring tests
   wdlTests:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
     strategy:
       matrix:
         wdlTest: [ 'RUN_CNV_GERMLINE_COHORT_WDL', 'RUN_CNV_GERMLINE_CASE_WDL', 'RUN_CNV_SOMATIC_WDL', 'RUN_M2_WDL', 'RUN_VCF_SITE_LEVEL_FILTERING_WDL' ]
diff --git a/scripts/gatkcondaenv.yml.template b/scripts/gatkcondaenv.yml.template
index 51d00ce99e8..9ea95f57bbc 100644
--- a/scripts/gatkcondaenv.yml.template
+++ b/scripts/gatkcondaenv.yml.template
@@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ dependencies:
 # core python dependencies
 - conda-forge::python=3.10.13         # do not update without good reason
 - conda-forge:pip=23.3.1
-- conda-forge:blas=1.0=mkl            # our official environment uses MKL versions of various packages; if other versions are desired, users should edit this YML accordingly
+- conda-forge:blas=1.0                # our official environment uses MKL versions of various packages; if other versions are desired, users should edit this YML accordingly
 - conda-forge::numpy=1.26.2
 - conda-forge::pymc=5.10.1
 - conda-forge::pytensor=2.18.3
 - conda-forge::scipy=1.11.4
 - conda-forge::h5py=3.10.0
-- conda-forge::pytorch=2.1.0=*mkl*100
+- conda-forge::pytorch=2.1.0
 - conda-forge::pytorch-lightning=2.4.0   # supports Pytorch >= 2.1 and <= 2.4, used by NVScoreVariants
 - conda-forge::scikit-learn=1.3.2
 - conda-forge::matplotlib=3.8.2