AI in banks? It’s all marketing and FOMO May 13, 2026 As banks are rush to beef up their AI capacity Samuel Norman recounts the sentiment shared across the industry at a conference in Copenhagen last week. Like all sectors, banks are chasing the promises of AI. The industry is shrugging off growing fears around job losses and rushing to beef up their AI credentials. Last [...]
UK ministers tell UK businesses to ‘step up’ cyber defences May 12, 2026 Ministers have announced a new push to force firms to strengthen their cyber defences against AI-powered attacks, as Britain’s cyber industry has swelled to £14.7bn. According to new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) figures, Britain’s cyber sector saw a 11 per cent rise in the past twelve months, while the number of companies [...]
Starmer’s Europe reset risks strangling UK AI sector with EU regulation May 11, 2026 As the prime minister scrambles to save his premiership Keir Starmer has vowed to position the UK “at the heart of Europe” – but his pledge risks reigniting fears that closer EU ties could undo the UK’s AI advantage. In today’s speech, aimed at rescuing the prime minister’s position after bruising local election losses, Starmer [...]
Fractile vs Nvidia: can a UK startup undercut AI’s chip darling? May 6, 2026 A little-known British startup is beginning to test one of the biggest assumptions underpinning the AI boom: that Nvidia will remain the unavoidable centre of the ecosystem. Founded in 2022 by Oxford researcher Walter Goodwin, Fractile is attempting to redesign how AI chips work altogether, with a focus on speed and – crucially – cost. [...]
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 [...]
AI could trigger a PPI level scandal in ‘two weeks’ April 29, 2026 A multi-billion pound scandal like PPI could happen within just “two weeks” as UK finance firms plough ahead with deploying AI despite uncertainty around governance standards, a fresh report has claimed. The UK’s financial services sector faces a “capability gap” when deploying AI, according to a report from regulatory compliance firm Zango. The research pulled [...]
King’s Cross puts London on the AI map April 28, 2026 A description of King’s Cross a little over 20 years ago sounds like something from a Dickens novel. It was “a place of decay, dereliction, crime and filth” – known for drugs and prostitution. Some readers may remember its rave scene but for most people it was a no-go area. That opening description comes from [...]
Bank of England’s Breeden warns Iran war could set off bond and private credit crisis April 17, 2026 The energy crisis set off by Donald Trump’s war in Iran has made a financial crash more likely, according to the Bank of England’s financial stability chief, who warned that private credit, sky-high sovereign debt and stock market exuberance posed salient threats to the global economy. Sarah Breeden, the central bank’s deputy governor for financial [...]
AI job cuts top 50,000 in 2026 as Snap, Oracle, Meta slash roles April 16, 2026 More than 50,000 tech jobs have been cut in 2026 as tech behemoths such as Snap, Oracle and Meta link layoffs to AI and a shift in spending towards AI infrastructure. Recent figures from Challenger, Gray & Christmas show over 52,000 roles were eliminated in the sector in the first quarter alone, with AI cited [...]
OK computer: will AI be telling you how to shop? April 14, 2026 Hyped as a “seamless” user experience and an opportunity for retailers to access “hundreds of millions” of consumers via ChatGPT, OpenAI walked back from its Instant Checkout shopping function at the end of March, just months before unveiling it. The tool would have allowed users to complete purchases entirely within ChatGPT, but the Silicon Valley [...]