Exclusive: Lloyds in tie-up with Google to build AI agents April 30, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has formed a tie-up with Google as the financial services giant sets its sight on building its own AI agents, City AM can reveal. The blue-chip lender is leveraging Google Cloud – the tech giant’s suite of computing services – and the bank’s existing Large Language Model to create a new internal [...]
Barclays and Lloyds picked for City watchdog’s AI live testing April 21, 2026 Barclays has joined the second cohort of firms selected by the UK’s financial watchdog to get a safe run at testing AI as banking giants battle to bulk up their tech capacity. The FTSE 100 constituent will join its peer Lloyds Banking Group – which will be represented by its subsidiary Scottish Widows – as [...]
Allica Bank goes ‘turbo’ on AI as profit and loan book swells April 15, 2026 Small business lender Allica Bank has revealed a major bump to its bottom line after the bank’s loan book ballooned over the last year. The neobank – which became one of the UK’s latest fintech unicorns this year – recorded a 23 per cent rise in pre-tax profit at £36.9m, compared to £29.9 million in [...]
IBM: AI adoption stalls as UK businesses lack clear strategy April 10, 2026 UK businesses are adopting AI at a pace, but many are still struggling to convert that momentum into real, meaningful financial returns. According to IBM’s Race for ROI study, 66 per cent of British enterprises report significant productivity improvements from AI, with 63 per cent of senior leaders citing noticeable efficiency gains post-adoption. There seems [...]
European banking jobs face AI reset ‘not mass job losses – for now’ April 10, 2026 European banking jobs are in line for a boost from AI despite widespread fears the integration of new tech will trigger mass layoffs, according to fresh analysis. The headcount at the top lenders is expected to get a four per cent average uplift, analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence said in a new note. The increase is [...]
Revolut follows Starling with AI agent as tech arms race heats up April 9, 2026 Revolut has waded into the AI arms race with the debut of its personal finance assistant as fintech firms race to beef up the tech in their all-in-one super apps. The $75bn digital banking giant has launched AI by Revolut – a financial assistant embedded into its app. The chatbot provides spending insights, investment updates [...]
British firm Stellanor snaps up data centre amid scramble for AI capacity April 8, 2026 Stellanor Datacenters has expanded its UK footprint with the acquisition of a specialist facility from Imagination Technologies, as demand for AI infrastructure continues to surge. The deal, structured as a ‘sale-and-service-back’ agreement, will see Imagination remain in the Hemel Hempstead site as a customer, while Stellanor takes ownership and integrates the facility into its growing [...]
OpenAI investor calls for tax overhaul as AI reshapes jobs market March 29, 2026 An early investor in OpenAI has called for a radical overhaul of the US tax system in anticipation that the rise of AI will necessitate a shift from taxing labour to taxing capital. American businessman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has said that as the accelerated automation of the workforce fuels public anxiety over job [...]
Blackrock boss Larry Fink says AI will boost trade jobs March 25, 2026 Society needs to rethink its view of careers as AI reshapes the job market, Blackrock chief Larry Fink has said, warning that skilled trades like plumbing and electrical work will become more valuable while some office roles decline. In an interview with the BBC, the asset manager boss claimed the US had “overdid” its push [...]
The world is not waiting for Britain on AI March 18, 2026 Without a pro-innovation framework that keep pace with our competitors, British start-ups will fall behind Today, the government will update Parliament on its position on the difficult issue of AI and copyright. It is critical that produces a pro-innovation framework which at minimum keeps pace with our international competitors. Without one, British startups are put [...]