The UK’s industrial approach to AI – what’s next?

AI has become an important industrial priority for countries across the world. The UK is no exception to this, with a succession of AI strategies published in recent years and significant investments made in AI skills, access to data, and compute. 

The new Government has published a green paper and consultation on its industrial strategy, which identifies ‘the rapid development of AI’ as a key opportunity for the UK. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has just delivered the first Labour budget in 15 years, which reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to AI-related initiatives such as the proposed ‘National Data Library’ and announced a review of barriers to the adoption of transformative technologies, like AI, with a focus on the sectors identified in the industrial strategy green paper. In the coming weeks, we’re expecting the publication of an ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’ and a new consultation on AI regulation. 

Taken together, do all these developments add up to a coherent industrial approach to AI? If so, what’s new and distinctive about this Government’s approach compared to its predecessor  – and what’s next?  

You can watch a recording of the event below.

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