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The Prime Minister Kier Starmer has thrown the full weight of Whitehall behind the AI industry by agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his AI Opportunities Action Plan.
Unveiling details of the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, the Prime Minister said that AI can transform the lives of working people – it has the potential to speed up planning consultations to get Britain building, help drive down admin for teachers so they can get on with teaching our children, and feed AI through cameras to spot potholes and help improve roads.
The Prime Minister said: “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge the Plan for Change. That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services.”
This comes as three major tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – have committed to £14 billion investment in the UK to build the AI infrastructure the UK needs to harness the potential of this technology and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. That’s on top of the £25 billion in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.
Vantage Data Centres – which is working to build one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales – plans to invest over £12 billion in data centres across the UK – creating over 11,500 jobs in the process.
Kyndryl – the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider and a leading IT consultancy – announces plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years. This new tech hub will share the government’s ambition to roll AI out across the country to help grow the economy and foster the next generation of talent.
Nscale – one of the UK’s leading AI companies – has announced a $2.5 billion investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the next three years. They have also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026.
The plan includes initiatives that will help make the UK the number one place for AI firms to invest, which aims to put Britain at the forefront of this industry. Taken together, the 50 measures will make the UK irresistible to AI firms looking to start, scale, or grow their business. It builds on recent progress in AI that saw £25 billion of new investment in data centres announced since the government took office last July.
Matt Clifford CBE said: ”This is a plan which puts us all-in – backing the potential of AI to grow our economy, improve lives for citizens, and make us a global hub for AI investment and innovation.
“AI offers opportunities we can’t let slip through our fingers, and these steps put us on the strongest possible footing to ensure AI delivers in all corners of the country, from building skills and talent to revolutionising our infrastructure and compute power.”
Industry response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Alison Kay, vice president, UK and Ireland at Amazon Web Services (AWS), said: “The UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan will play an important role in helping the UK to unlock the full potential of AI, and in doing so, boost productivity, enhance economic growth, and improve public services. At AWS, we’ve seen first-hand the benefits that digital technologies like AI can bring, and that’s why we’ve announced plans to invest £8 billion over the next five years building, operating, and maintaining data centres in the UK.
“By putting close industry collaboration and public-private partnership at the heart of the government’s agenda every citizen, community and business in every region of the UK will have the opportunity to realise the benefits of AI, and thrive and grow.”
Steve Hare, CEO of Sage believes this could transform small and medium-sized businesses: “While building better infrastructure and attracting top-tier talent is vital, success hinges on making AI accessible to all—especially the 99% of UK businesses that are SMBs.
“At Sage, we know 75% of SMBs are thinking about investing in AI this year. As Keir Starmer said, AI can transform their record keeping and planning. The potential is huge, but turning intent into action requires Government support through a comprehensive digital adoption and data strategy that fosters an innovation-friendly environment. When SMBs fully embrace AI, the benefits—productivity, innovation, growth—will ripple across the entire economy.”
James Hall, vice president and country manager UK&I at Snowflake said: “Such technology can be a major force for enhancing productivity in the public sector and improving people’s lives, but to truly capitalise on AI’s potential, the UK Government must also prioritise investments in data infrastructure. AI systems are only as powerful as the data they’re trained on, making high-quality, accessible data essential for the plan’s ambitions. Modern, scalable and secure data-sharing enables faster and more accurate AI insights that avoid hallucinations. This will help the UK remain globally competitive and, if the right balance is struck, it can lead in offering responsible and effective AI applications, benefitting everything from supercomputing to fixing potholes.”
