London startups bag £2.69bn in VC funding in 2025 so far April 17, 2025 London-based startups attracted £2.69bn in venture capital (VC) in the first three months of the year, marking a robust start of the year despite a fall in deal volumes. According to KPMG’s latest venture pulse report, while deal count dropped from the previous quarter, the overall value of funding reached nearly 90 per cent of [...]
The UK’s cyber blindspot lies with its SMBs April 16, 2025 Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) in the UK are facing an escalating cyber security crisis, experts have warned. According to Hugues Foulon, chief executive of Orange Cyberdefense, cyber attacks on SMBs have surged by 53 per cent, yet only 21 per cent of SMB chief executives are aware of their cyber risks. This alarming [...]
Former Google CEO warns AI may soon ignore human control April 16, 2025 Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) was advancing so rapidly that it may soon no longer need human guidance to evolve. Speaking last week at an event hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project – a think tank he founded – Schmidt described how AI systems were beginning to [...]
FCA to rip 140 pages out of handbook in deregulation drive April 16, 2025 The UK’s financial watchdog has vowed to rip scores of pages from its handbook as it slashes red tape in a drive to boost growth. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said as many as 140 pages will be removed from the lengthy handbook, as it opened a consultation on scrapping data collection requirements. The move [...]
Exclusive: EY reveals Brits embrace AI at home, not at work April 15, 2025 The UK public is increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) in their personal lives, but barriers to adoption are stopping workers from using the technology at work, according to a new study. EY’s new global AI sentiment index, shared exclusively to City AM, found that while 70 per cent of UK adults had used AI in [...]
Grid connection for clean energy firms to be fast-tracked, ministers say April 15, 2025 Grid connections for businesses delivering clean energy are to be prioritised, ministers have said. The government has said so-called ‘zombie projects’ which hold up the queue for National Grid connectivity are set to be axed from the waiting list. While industries including data centres and AI, wind energy and solar projects will be accelerated for [...]
Why the UK can’t get a grip of its energy crisis April 14, 2025 A months-long cost-of-living crisis, state bailouts of consumer energy bills, endless planning rows, judicial interventions and now the near-collapse of Britain’s only manufacturer of virgin steel all show different sides to the UK’s ongoing energy crisis. Its dependency on foreign imports, poor planning of infrastructure and lack of control over soaring bills means the extent [...]
Government’s privacy dispute with Apple ‘really strange’, expert says April 14, 2025 The government’s position in its privacy and encryption row with Apple is “really strange” and “doesn’t make sense”, an expert has said. Earlier this year, it was reported that the government had issued a notice under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, asking Apple for the ability to access data from Apple users. This was said [...]
Boat Race 2025: Avast! There is life outside of London April 11, 2025 The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race should put a spotlight on the regions, whose businesses need support now more than ever, writes David Wrench.
OpenAI cuts safety tests in ‘reckless’ AI push April 11, 2025 OpenAI has slashed the time it will spend testing its most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) models, raising concern that the $300bn company is prioritising speed over safety in the global AI arms race. Once known for its rigorous approach to AI risk, OpenAI is now giving safety evaluators just days – sometimes even less than [...]