Starmer positions the UK as a trailblazer in AI innovation
Keir Starmer has thrown the weight of Whitehall behind AI in a bid to boost growth and position the UK as a world leader in the sector.
On Monday morning, Keir Starmer revealed the UK’s ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’, a transformative strategy to establish the UK as a global leader in AI.
He said: “The AI industry needs a Government that is on their side, one that won’t slip back and let opportunities slip through its fingers.
“And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”
The plan features 50 measures made by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who Science Secretary Peter Kyle commissioned in July to develop a plan to identify AI opportunities.
These focus on bolstering infrastructure, driving innovation and fostering public and private sector collaboration to unlock AI’s potential for the UK’s economy.
The announcement follows significant private sector commitments, including £14bn in AI infrastructure investments from Vantage data centres, NScale and Kyndryl, creating 13,250 jobs across the UK.
Key measures in the AI plan
The action plan set out a comprehensive strategy, starting with the government’s series of AI “growth zones” in Culham, Oxfordshire, where it will accelerate planning approvals for data centres and improve access to the energy grid.
There will also be a 20-fold increase in computational capacity by 2030, including the development of a state-of-the-art supercomputer.
Even before being asked to formulate the plan, Clifford had called for a significant increase in the UK’s computation power to attract AI investment.
The previous government had said it would support an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, but the plans were shelved shortly after Labour came to power with the Government saying the Tories had failed to allocate any money to the project.
A secure hub for public data, the ‘national data library’, will also be used to support AI research and innovation.
The plan announced the formation of a AI energy council, a cross-sector body to address AI’s energy needs while supporting clean energy goals.
A new government team will also be used to pilot and scale AI-driven solutions to improve public services, including NHS diagnostics and infrastructure maintenance.
Private sector commitments
Vantage Data Centres will invest £12bn, which will be used to develop one of Europe’s largest data centres in Wales, creating 11,500 jobs.
IT infrastructure services company Kyndryl has also announced plans to create 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years.
Nscale will pour $2.5bn (£2bn) into AI investment, including constructing the UK’s largest sovereign AI data centre in Essex by 2026.
These firms’ investments follow and build upon the £25bn in AI commitments which were announced at the International Investment Summit in October 2024.
Government prioritises AI
The government is hoping not only to attract AI investment with its action plan but also to spur the adoption of the technology across Whitehall in a bid to improve productivity and cut costs.
Starmer has personally written to Cabinet ministers ordering them to make driving AI adoption and growth in their departments a top priority.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader in AI. It will drive economic growth, create jobs, and transform public services, ensuring the benefits of AI are felt by all. This is the change this government is delivering”, he said.
Alexander Losad, director of government innovation at the Tony Blair Institute, welcomed the plan, saying AI could “help take care of drudgery in the public sector”, helping retain more staff who are currently “overwhelmed and overworked”.
He said: “AI is no longer an if, or even a when; it is here and it is urgent.
“The opportunities for Britain’s economy and our public services are too great for us to ignore.”
Ministers have billed the action plan as a sharp change from the approach of the previous government, which they say focused too much on safety and not enough on the opportunities AI provided.
Kyle said on Sunday that while safety must be the “first step”, and should not be “pitted against economic investment”, it had proved to be “the only step” under the Conservatives.
“With this plan, we become agents of that change.”
But as well as safety, the Government must grapple with competing demands of different sectors such as the creative industries.
Artists and media companies have complained that AI developers’ use of their material to train programmes such as Chat-GPT has infringed their copyright, and the Government is currently consulting on the issue.
Positive sector reactions
Industry leaders widely praised the government’s ambition set out in Monday’s announcement.
Darren Hardman, chief executive of Microsoft UK, said: “The scale of this government’s ambition is exactly what’s needed to drive economic growth, transform public services, and create new opportunities. Microsoft is fully committed to helping make this vision a reality.”
Darktrace’s Mike Beck also said, “The plan’s recommendations have the potential to turn AI into an engine for the UK economy. It’s essential for governments to move quickly to realise the benefits of technological change, and the UK is setting a bold example.”
“Having a clearly defined roadmap is critical for the UK to achieve its ambition of becoming an AI superpower. Cisco is encouraged by the government’s positive response to Matt Clifford’s proposals”, added Chintan Patel, chief technology officer at Cisco.
Dario Amodei, ceo of Anthropic, also commented on the plan: “The UK’s approach could help unlock AI’s potential to solve real-world problems. Infrastructure investment combined with strategic planning positions the UK to lead globally.”
With additional reporting from Christopher McKeon, PA Political Correspondent