Astrazeneca and Jaguar Land Rover given power to endorse talented migrants for visas Politics A select group of private companies including Astrazeneca and Jaguar Land Rover will be able to endorse migrants to enter the UK on a skilled talent visa for the first time. The list of over 100 companies, which also includes GSK, Arm and a range of large companies and research start-ups, will now be able [...]
Britain has an AI minister – now it needs an AI answer Opinion The appointment of Kanishka Narayan, Britain’s first Cabinet-level minister for AI is an acknowledgement that this technology is the central economic question of the age, but the minister’s real test is whether he continues to build durable homegrown capability or instead subsidises dependency on non-European platforms, says Stefano Pasquali Kanishka Narayan’s appointment as Britain’s first [...]
AI Minister: Visa reform key to keeping tech giants in Britain AI AI Minister Kanishka Narayan renewed calls for more visas for top engineers, arguing that the UK will need to do more to help tech companies scale at home rather than sell overseas. In his first interview since joining Andy Burnham’s cabinet, Narayan said he would use his seat at the top table to push for [...]
Breaking up the science department is a setback for Britain’s AI ambitions July 27, 2026 Spreading AI across four different departments is a mistake Andy Burnham will come to regret, says Eliot Wilson Last Tuesday, on his first full day as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham killed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. That has set back the UK’s approach to science policy by several years, for reasons which are [...]
Burnham accused of gutting tech department’s ‘biggest strength’ July 23, 2026 Andy Burnham’s decision to abolish the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will split up the teams it was created to bring together, according to its former top civil servant. A leaked internal government document shows AI, digital and science responsibilities being divided between three departments as ministers begin dismantling DSIT less than three [...]
‘Phenomenal waste of time’: Burnham slammed over plans to dismantle tech department July 21, 2026 Andy Burnham faced immediate questions over his decision to abolish the tech department on Tuesday, as peers warned the move risked disrupting Britain’s AI strategy. Ministers were hauled before the House of Lords less than a day after the machinery of government changes to the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) were announced, where [...]
‘Fantastic news’ as Burnham brings Britain’s AI minister into Cabinet July 21, 2026 Andy Burnham has promoted Kanishka Narayan to a Cabinet position as Britain’s AI minister as part of his first major government reshuffle, handing artificial intelligence its first dedicated seat at the Cabinet table. Narayan will attend Cabinet for the first time after surviving Burnham’s sweeping reshuffle, which saw several senior ministers leave government and the [...]
AI minister: UK sets sights on global AI leadership, not Silicon Valley emulation July 15, 2026 AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the UK must build enough domestic AI capability to “shape our own destiny” rather than rely on overseas tech giants as the government accelerates its push to develop sovereign AI infrastructure. Narayan told City AM that AI had become “the defining currency” of geopolitical and economic power, arguing that the [...]
AI startup boss warns UK cannot become ‘dependent’ on overseas tech July 15, 2026 UK AI infrastructure company Valarian has raised $50m (£37m) in fresh funding as its boss said countries should focus on controlling AI infrastructure rather than competing to build their own frontier models. The Series A round, led by Silicon Valley investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), takes the London firm’s total funding to $70m and marks [...]
Fractile lands $220m as ministers hail ‘vote of confidence’ in UK AI May 13, 2026 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 [...]