Fractile lands $220m as ministers hail ‘vote of confidence’ in UK AI Tech British AI chip startup Fractile has raised $220m (£165m) in fresh funding with the government pointing to the deal as evidence the UK can produce globally competitive AI infrastructure companies. The London-founded company, which is developing next-generation chips designed to speed up AI inference – the by which AI models generate responses – said the [...]
UK launches £500m Sovereign AI fund as Kendall backs ‘British winners’ Tech The UK government has unveiled a £500m push to scale domestic AI firms, as ministers step up efforts to anchor the next wave of tech firms on home soil amid growing competition. Tech secretary Liz Kendall is set to launch the new Sovereign AI Unit in London on Thursday, casting it as a central pillar [...]
OpenAI pauses Stargate UK project over energy costs and regulation AI OpenAI has paused plans to develop a major AI data centre project in the UK, citing high energy costs and regulatory uncertainty. The US firm confirmed that its ‘Stargate UK’ infrastructure initiative, first announced in September, has been put on hold as it reassesses the conditions needed for long-term investment. “We see huge potential for [...]
Exclusive: Databricks commits $850m in vote of confidence for UK tech March 31, 2026 Databricks is pouring more than $850m (£644m) into the UK over the next three years, City AM understands, in a major vote of confidence in Britain’s position as a European AI hub. The US data and AI group said it would quadruple its London office footprint with a new 137,000 sq ft headquarters in Fitzrovia, [...]
UK AI plans fall short without backing home firms, warns UKAI February 11, 2026 The UK’s ‘sovereign AI’ push risks becoming a missed opportunity unless government policy does more to back UK businesses at home, according to the head of Britain’s AI trade body. Speaking after a parliamentary roundtable in the House of Lords, Tim Flagg, UKAI boss, said the debate around sovereign AI should focus on growth and [...]
Fractile pledges £100m UK expansion amid AI chip push February 10, 2026 UK chip start-up Fractile has announced a £100m expansion of its British operations, scaling up in London and Bristol as ministers step up calls for greater domestic ownership of critical AI. The investment, which will be rolled out over the next three years, will fund a new industrial hardware engineering facility in Bristol. The move [...]
UK’s AI vision faces infrastructure reality check July 25, 2025 The UK government has set ambitions to become a global leader in AI research, safety and commercialisation. Over £2.5bn has been committed to compute infrastructure, with new supercomputers being built in Edinburgh and Bristol, and “AI Growth Zones” being launched across regions including Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. But a growing chorus of voices [...]
UK skills gap threatens to stall Starmer’s AI plans as firms looks abroad February 10, 2025 A severe shortage of the nation’s tech skills may stifle the government’s push to turbocharge artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK, a survey has warned. Keir Starmer announced the government’s AI opportunities action plan in January, in which he pledged to create over 13,000 jobs in the tech sector. But it may struggle to get [...]
Starmer’s AI plan confirms one thing: Britain is falling behind January 23, 2025 Britain is falling further behind in the AI race - and the government’s new AI strategy confirms it, writes Alexandra Mousavizadeh.
UK set for AI tech boost as millions of pounds injected after action plan January 15, 2025 The UK’s artificial intelligence (AI) sector has received an average of £200m in private investment daily since July 2024, as global firms rally behind Starmer’s blueprint to turbocharge AI. In the 24 hours that followed the government’s release on Monday, over £14bn of new investment has been reported, with pledges to create over 13,000 jobs [...]