FCA plans to allow contactless payment limits above £100 September 10, 2025 Card providers are set to be given the powers to set their own limits on contactless payments, which are currently set at £100, under proposals set out by the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed that it will consult industry on whether the rules should be relaxed as part of its task [...]
Labour’s OpenAI deal lacks transparency July 24, 2025 The Labour government’s newly announced partnership with OpenAI has positioned the UK at the centre of a global discourse on the future of artificial intelligence in public services. The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed on Tuesday by tech secretary Peter Kyle and OpenAI chief Sam Altman, sets out a framework for collaboration across sectors like [...]
Peter Kyle says UK could overtake US in tech amid record startup growth July 15, 2025 Technology secretary Peter Kyle has said the UK is positioned to “overtake America” in key areas of tech, as a new wave of regulatory reforms aims to fast-track innovation and attract investment across AI, fintech and biotech. In an interview on the UKTN Podcast, Kyle argued that the UK is now creating “the best regulatory [...]
Meta-backed fellowship puts open source in the firing line July 11, 2025 The UK government has launched a $1 million open source AI fellowship funded by Meta through the Alan Turing Institute, inviting the nation’s top AI engineers to spend 12 months building public-sector AI tools. The scheme focuses on open-source AI models like Meta’s Llama 4 to create applications for everything from speeding up planning approvals [...]
UK innovation hinges on talent and clusters, says Lord Vallance June 20, 2025 The UK’s science and innovation lanscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, according to science minister Lord Patrick Vallance, who argued the UK must now “connect with its brightest clusters” and supercharge international partnerships to stay competitive. Speaking the recent India Global Forum on Thursday, the government’s national tech adviser and Oxford-Cambridge innovation [...]
London loses Europe tech crown to Paris May 21, 2025 Paris has overtaken London as Europe’s leading tech hub for the first time, reigniting concerns over the competitiveness of the UK’s biggest city for a vital sector. The French capital has been named as the only non-US city in the world’s top five global ecosystems, according to Dealroom’s 2025 global tech ecosystem index, overturning years [...]
CMA must tackle Apple and Google duopoly to ‘unlock UK growth’ May 15, 2025 One of the UK’s leading left-wing think tanks has called on the government to strengthen the powers of the competition regulator to curb the dominance of tech giants like Apple and Google. It has warned that their stranglehold on app marketplaces is holding back innovation, investment, and growth in the British economy. In a new [...]
New immigration plans could reverse the UK’s tech exodus May 13, 2025 The UK government’s recently unveiled immigration white paper has triggered cautious optimism across the tech sector, as policymakers aim to reverse a talent bottleneck that many say has long stifled innovation and growth. As part of a broader industrial strategy targeting sectors like AI, quantum, and green tech, the paper outlines steps to widen access [...]
Deliveroo’s sale reignites fear over UK’s tech exodus May 9, 2025 When London-headquartered Deliveroo announced in early May that it had agreed to be acquired by US delivery giant Doordash, it triggered more than just a major shakeup in the food tech sector. To many in the industry, it was a familiar story – yet another prominent British tech firm snapped up by an overseas buyer. [...]
Amazon arms UK warehouses with its new robot ‘Vulcan’ May 7, 2025 Amazon has unveiled its most advanced robot to date – a machine that can sense touch – in a move aimed to alter how its warehouses are staffed and operated. The robot, dubbed Vulcan, was announced today at Amazon’s ‘Delivering the Future’ event in Dortmund, Germany. It is designed to replicate one of the most [...]