In a speech setting out the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan which will focus on the use of AI across the UK to boost growth and deliver services more efficiently, the Prime Minister said the government had a responsibility to make AI “work for working people”.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan is backed by leading tech firms, some of which have committed £14bn towards various projects, creating 13,250 jobs. AI capabilities are developing at an extraordinary pace and have the potential to be the government’s single biggest lever to deliver its five missions, especially the goal of kickstarting broad-based economic growth.
View the AI_Opportunities_Action_Plan here.
The UK has solid – and in places genuinely world-leading – AI foundations on which to build this plan:
- Strong fundamental AI research, and high-quality research and engineering talent from universities, which are some of the best in the world for AI.
- A vibrant startup and scaleup scene, with an increasingly skilled and experienced entrepreneurial workforce and growing quantities of sophisticated capital available for ambitious companies.
- Leading frontier AI companies in London, including Google DeepMind’s headquarters, significant OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Meta AI offices, as well as emerging local winners – such as Wayve, the autonomous vehicle company.
- Global leadership on AI safety and governance via the AI Safety Institute, and a proportionate, flexible regulatory approach.
The plan has three primary goals; to invest in the foundations of AI, push hard on cross-economy AI adoption and position the UK to be an AI maker, not an AI taker. In his foreword of the Action Plan, The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “Today, Britain is the third largest AI market in the world. We are home to an extraordinary array of global talent and pioneering AI firms like Google DeepMind, ARM, and Wayve.
“But despite our record of scientific discovery – from Alan Turing on algorithms and general-purpose computing to Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web – the UK risks falling behind the advances in AI made in the US and China.
“In this next phase of AI development, we want Britain to step up; to shape the AI revolution rather than wait to see how it shapes us. Because we believe Britain has a particular responsibility to provide global leadership in fairly and effectively seizing the opportunities of AI, as we have done on AI safety. That is why one of my first acts as Secretary of State was to commission Matt Clifford to devise an AI Opportunities Action Plan for the British government.”
In response to the plan’s launch, Carl Ennis, CEO at Siemens UK & Ireland, said: “AI has become the technology that will define this decade. Today’s plan indicates, encouragingly, that the government is taking it seriously – reflecting the already sizeable AI sector in the UK and the opportunities for us to maintain our global leadership.
“AI for industrial applications has an established heritage in automating industry and infrastructure, built on data generated by machines rather than humans. And it’s here where we hope to see alignment of AI and sectors identified as priorities in the Industrial Strategy green paper.
“In order to ensure that the consumer and industrial uses of AI have opportunities to appropriately support society, policy frameworks must address the specific environments where the technology is being used. The challenge is that, at the same time, we must safeguard properly and ensure we don’t hinder innovation.
“Getting AI policy wrong could have significant implications, including further loss of productivity and slowed economic growth. But, getting it right will provide solutions to the UK’s productivity challenge while accelerating investment in automation and robotics. It is crucial that we quickly take the opportunity to harness AI’s potential while mitigating risks.”
Dr Shweta Singh, Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Management at The University of Warwick added: “The UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan offers significant benefits, including enhanced efficiency in public services, the creation of AI Growth Zones, and improved healthcare through faster diagnoses. It also aims to position the UK as a global leader in AI innovation, potentially adding £47bn annually to the economy.
“However, this action plan faces several major challenges despite its promise. One significant issue is regional inequality; while growth zones aim to spread benefits, historically, tech innovation has often been concentrated in specific regions like London or the South East, leaving others behind. Additionally, the UK’s reliance on foreign-owned AI firms, such as Google-owned DeepMind, raises concerns about domestic innovation and intellectual property retention.
“Regulatory and ethical challenges also loom, as the government must balance innovation with safeguarding privacy, ensuring fair data use and preventing misuse. For instance, the use of AI for monitoring roads or administrative tasks raises questions about surveillance, and misuse of AI-based surveillance, for instance, The New York Times has already highlighted how facial recognition technologies disproportionately misidentify people of colour, resulting in wrongful arrests and false criminal accusations.
“Lastly, the skills gap in the UK’s workforce could hinder the adoption of AI technologies, requiring substantial investment in education and retraining programs to ensure widespread accessibility and equity.”
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