London’s AI surge at risk from skills crunch, Amazon warns April 30, 2025 London businesses are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) faster and more comprehensively than the rest of the UK, but the capital’s acute digital skills shortage risks limiting the broader economic gains from this progress. New research from Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed exclusively to City AM that 67 per cent of London-based businesses have now adopted [...]
Lloyds sends 200 senior staff to Cambridge University for AI bootcamp March 28, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group has set out plans to send over 200 senior employees on an 80-hour AI bootcamp at the University of Cambridge. The FTSE 100 lender has joined with education technology firm Cambridge Spark for a “bespoke six-month training programme” to enhance AI capabilities across its management. The first cohort of 30 Lloyds leaders [...]
New £1bn west London data centre set to back soaring AI demand March 25, 2025 Segro and Pure Data Centres have announced a new £1bn data centre located in London’s Park Royal, set to meet the soaring demand for digital infrastructure in the UK. The centre, backed by secretary Peter Kyle, is set for completion in 2026, with operations expected from 2029. The project will support next-generation AI and cloud [...]
UK banks differ from US on AI strategy February 20, 2025 Banks in the UK are more likely to focus artificial intelligence (AI) strategy on improving customer experience compared to their US rivals, a new report has revealed. NTT Data’s ‘Intelligent Banking in the Age of AI’ found 52 per cent of UK banks were using AI to enhance customer services, rather than cut jobs. This [...]
France races ahead of UK in AI push February 10, 2025 French President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109bn (£90bn) investment in artificial intelligence (AI) on Monday, dwarfing the UK’s commitment to leading the global tech race. The funding, which was announced at the Paris AI summit, will come from both public and private sources, as Macron aims to position France as a major AI hub. The [...]
Green belt site near M25 to host Europe’s largest AI data centre January 24, 2025 Plans for Europe’s largest cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) centre near the M25 in Hertfordshire have been approved, in wake of the UK launching its so-called ‘action plan’. The state of art facility will be built near the Elstree substation, 30 minutes from central London, and will span up to two million square feet, carrying [...]
Public sector tackles inefficiency with new AI tools January 21, 2025 The government has launched a new digital strategy to modernise public services, using a series of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to fix government inefficiency. The science and technology secretary Peter Kyle announced the initiative following a review which revealed various efficiencies within the government. Daily, HMRC was dealing with over 100,000 phone calls, while DVLA [...]
Open-source is the secret sauce that will power the future of AI January 18, 2025 Open-source – code made freely available to be redistributed and modified – has arguably been saddled with boring and technical branding, but it is an incredible powerful tool for challengers and essential to unlocking the potential of AI, says Camilla de Coverly Veale This week the government published their response to AI-superstar Matt Clifford’s AI [...]
Former BBC Dragons’ Den star backs UK AI action plan January 16, 2025 Former Dragon’s Den investor Piers Linney has backed the UK’s recently announced ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’, calling it a necessary step to position Britain as a global hub for the technology. The government’s plan, announced by Keir Starmer on Monday but developed under the leadership of tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, set out a strategy to [...]
Microsoft and FTSE firm Pearson tie up AI deal after UK action plan January 15, 2025 Microsoft and London-listed education giant Pearson have announced a multiyear partnership to address the global skills gap in artificial intelligence, as the UK prioritises AI. This collaboration will combine Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies with Pearson’s learning and assessment expertise to provide AI tools. It will also offer tailored learning and certifications for workers and [...]