The UK government outlined a package of AI investment, workplace measures and justice reforms at London Tech Week. The announcements also included the launch of the UK's first Homelessness Data Lab through Prince William's Homewards programme.
The biggest financial commitment was a GBP £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan focused on domestic chip development, research infrastructure and skills. Ministers said it would support British companies working on semiconductors and related technologies while expanding the pipeline of scientists, engineers and technicians.
The plan includes GBP £750 million for a new national AI supercomputer, due to be deployed in 2030, and GBP £120 million for an AI Hardware Innovation Programme to help British companies design, develop and test new chips.
Officials said GBP £150 million from the supercomputer budget will be used this summer to buy next-generation inference chips, presenting it as an immediate opportunity for British hardware suppliers.
Skills are also part of the package, with a further GBP £45 million allocated to doctoral training and undergraduate bursaries to train more engineers, chip designers and technicians.
The strategy also includes private sector backing. A new partnership with Arm is intended to connect industry expertise with skills development, while Playground Global is receiving up to GBP £150 million from the British Business Bank to invest in UK-based AI hardware companies.
Carolyn Dawson, Chief Executive Officer, Founders Forum Group, said: “Today's announcements highlight the UK's laser focus on high impact investment and programmes driving innovation and growth for the UK economy. The UK's technology sector is already a leading nation on the global stage, and today's news cements its position as the European leader in AI and emerging technologies.”
Workplace focus
Alongside the hardware package, the government set out more than GBP £200 million in support linked to AI use in the workplace. The measures were presented at an AI Adoption Summit that brought together technology companies, trade unions and business groups.
A GBP £100 million expansion of the Bridge AI scheme will match British companies with domestic AI expertise. The programme also includes support on skills, AI assurance and implementation guidance.
Ministers said the AI Skills Boost programme has already recorded 1.7 million completed AI skills courses. Companies including Cisco, IBM and Deloitte are expanding training provision and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The government also said Nobel Prize-winning economist Simon Johnson will chair a new AI Economics Institute. More than 30 companies, including BT, Rolls-Royce and Accenture, are expected to share data and information on workplace AI use to help inform policy.
A Pro-Worker AI Exposition Prize will also be introduced to recognise organisations that help workers adapt to AI or create jobs through its use. The government framed it as an attempt to tie adoption more closely to labour market outcomes.
Justice system
Another part of the announcement focused on the courts. New technology projects in the justice system are intended to address the court backlog and improve the handling of routine work.
Measures include AI legal assistants for professionals carrying out research and case analysis, as well as changes to case management tools. The Ministry of Justice also cited Justice Transcribe, which it said saves 18,750 days of probation officer time each year.
The package suggests ministers are extending AI policy beyond industrial strategy into public service delivery. It also places the justice system among the areas now being used to test administrative applications of AI.
Social data
Separate from the government measures, Homewards launched what it described as the UK's first Homelessness Data Lab. The initiative is being developed with LandAid and Salesforce.
More than 25 organisations from business, technology, government, local authorities and frontline services are involved. The project is based on the view that indicators of homelessness often appear before crisis point and that earlier use of data could help services intervene sooner.
Participants including Bloomberg, VodafoneThree, Accenture and NatWest Group will work on practical projects with set timeframes. The projects will focus on improving coordination between frontline services, cutting response times and helping direct people to support earlier.
The work will be piloted across Homewards locations in Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland and Sheffield. Including homelessness in a major technology policy forum broadened the discussion beyond economic growth and public administration.
Across the announcements, the government and its partners presented AI as both an industrial and social policy tool, spanning chips, skills, courts and prevention services. The combined package included GBP £1.1 billion for hardware, more than GBP £200 million for workplace adoption measures, justice technology projects and a cross-sector data initiative aimed at preventing homelessness.