UK to land Europe’s first rover on Mars March 29, 2025 Airbus UK has secured a £150m contract to engineer the landing platform for Europe’s first Mars rover. The Rosalind Franklin rover, which was built entirely in Stevenage, is scheduled to launch in 2028 and touch down on the red planet in 2030, marking a major milestone in European space exploration. The mission, led by European [...]
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 [...]
Tech secretary pledges to not pit AI against creatives amid copyright row March 24, 2025 Tech secretary Peter Kyle has promised that the government will not be forced to choose between the UK’s creative industry and its burgeoning AI sector, as it prepares for the integration of new AI copyright regulations. “We have the third largest AI market in the world, and the second largest creative arts sector”, Kyle told [...]
What the Online Safety Act means for UK tech March 23, 2025 New rules under the Online Safety Act came into force on Monday, requiring tech firms to find and remove illegal content, or risk facing heavy fines. The law applies to around 100,000 online services including social media platforms, online forums and messaging apps. It has given the UK watchdog the power to enforce stricter content [...]
Virgin Media 02 to spend millions upgrading its mobile network March 11, 2025 Virgin Media has announced a £700m investment this year to improve mobile reliability and boost speed for its UK customers. This investment will also help the broadband giant to strengthen its 4G and 5G coverage in rural areas. As part of its mobile transformation plan, the firm plans to roll out thousands of upgrades, including [...]
Tech secretary hails space sector as a ‘launchpad’ for growth March 11, 2025 Science secretary Peter Kyle has hailed the UK space sector‘s recent achievement as proof that the UK is a “launchpad for innovation and investment”. The field has secured £80m more in European Space Agency (ESA) contracts than government contributions in late 2024, the highest return for any ESA member state. This success is set to [...]
Tech secretary to slash red tape in bid to boost tech growth March 10, 2025 The technology secretary has pledged to strip away outdated regulations that delay cutting-edge technology across the UK.
UK unveils ‘National Data Library’ plans for public services February 25, 2025 Plans for the UK’s National Data Library (NDL) have been revealed, a landmark initiative designed to streamline the use of public sector data. In Tuesday’s report, the Tony Blair Institute and The Entrepreneurs Network officially published their plans for the proposed library and a road map to achieve it. The paper reveals how the library [...]
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 [...]
Tech giants must obey UK’s online safety laws, says minister January 12, 2025 British law has not changed and tech giants must still obey it, the Science Secretary has said in response to Meta’s decision to do away with content moderation teams. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that his social media platforms would replace their longstanding fact-checking programme with a “community notes” system similar to Elon [...]