UK government invests £500m in AI startups, brushes aside job and security concerns
The UK has committed its first investment from a £500m sovereign AI fund, taking stakes in two companies as Technology Secretary Liz Kendall urged the country to embrace artificial intelligence despite mounting concerns about job losses and cybersecurity risks.
The government announced Thursday it had acquired an undisclosed shareholding in Callosum, a London-based company that optimizes how different computer chips work together to train and run AI models. A second unnamed investment also closed.
Kendall acknowledged public anxiety. "People are worried about the risks and what it means for their jobs," she said. But she framed AI adoption as necessary, saying the UK must "seize this to make it work for Britain, for our jobs, for solving the biggest challenges we face as a world."
Her comments came as Anthropic, a US AI startup, had just revealed that its latest AI model posed a potentially significant cybersecurity threat-a disclosure that underscores the risks Kendall downplayed.
In January, Kendall acknowledged that "some jobs will go" as AI automates certain tasks, though she argued new employment opportunities would emerge. The government has offered no data to support that claim.
Supercomputer access and equity stakes
Six UK companies will gain access to government-funded supercomputers to develop AI models. In return, the government receives a "right of first refusal" to invest in those firms.
The companies include Prima Mente, which is building biological foundation models to address diseases like Alzheimer's; Cursive, an autonomous AI agents company founded by Google DeepMind alumni; and Odyssey, which develops world models that allow AI systems to interact with simulations of the real world.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the fund aims to ensure that internationally competitive AI companies "start, scale and stay here in Britain."
Danyal Akarca, Callosum's co-founder, said the UK was the "natural place" to build his company because of its university talent and private AI research labs like DeepMind.
The sovereign AI unit, which operates like a venture capital fund, was formally launched Thursday at the London offices of Wayve, a self-driving car startup valued at $8.6bn.
For government professionals overseeing AI policy or implementation, understanding both the investment strategy and the unresolved risks is essential. Learn more about AI for Government and Generative AI and LLM to stay informed on these developments.
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