Government defends Online Safety Act after X claims it threatens free speech August 2, 2025 The Government has defended the Online Safety Act after Elon Musk’s X said the legislation was threatening free speech. In a post titled What Happens When Oversight Becomes Overreach, the platform, formerly known as Twitter, outlined criticism of the act and the “heavy-handed” UK regulators. The Government countered that it is “demonstrably false” that the [...]
UK backs global AI safety plan with AWS and Anthropic July 30, 2025 The UK has launched a new global research coalition aimed at tackling one of the most pressing but least understood problems in artificial intelligence – ensuring that advanced AI systems behave in ways aligned with human values. Backed by £15m in funding and a wide-ranging group of partners, the so-called ‘Alignment Project’ was unveiled on [...]
UK risks squandering AI investment without urgent action on data centres July 30, 2025 The UK could lose out on billions of pounds in AI investment unless it tackles growing obstacles to data centre development, a new report has warned, as infrastructure experts urge the government to move faster on planning reform and energy policy. The ‘how to make the UK an AI leader’ report, published by techUK, the [...]
UK hits Big Tech with online safety crackdown July 25, 2025 The UK’s biggest tech platforms are under new legal pressure from Friday as sweeping new child protection laws come into force, requiring firms to deploy strict age verification for harmful content – or face fines of up to £18m, or 10 per cent of global turnover. The new rules, part of the government’s long-trailed Online [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
ABPI: UK aims high on life sciences, but investment lags behind July 16, 2025 The government’s newly unveiled Life Sciences Sector Plan lays out an ambition to position the UK as a global life sciences leader by 2030. But the pharmaceutical industry has pushed back, warning that without major reforms to medicine funding and pricing, the strategy risks underdelivering. Published on Wednesday as part of government’s Industrial Strategy, the [...]
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 [...]
Peter Kyle hits back at claims Labour is too close to Big Tech July 9, 2025 Tech secretary Peter Kyle has hit back at criticism that the Labour government is cosying up to Big Tech, insisting he’s “doing the job” by securing the best deals for Britain. Speaking at a Google Cloud event in London on Tuesday, Kyle addressed recent reports flagging the number of meetings he’s had with US tech [...]