'Keir Starmer's Government is Sleepwalking Britain Into the Grip of Trump-Supporting Big Tech'
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Compare the UK Government's recent announcements on AI with the US tech industry's press releases and it can often be hard to tell the difference.
This week the Technology Secretary announced a new 'partnership' with OpenAI - a multi-billion dollar tech giant that has aligned itself closely with US President Donald Trump.
"This partnership will support the UK's goal to build sovereign AI in the UK," claims Peter Kyle's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sam Altman's firm. What it fails to explain is exactly how putting more key digital infrastructure in the hands of a US tech giant will help build the UK's 'sovereign' capacity.
The tech secretary's announcement is reminiscent of OpenAI's recent sales pitch: earlier this year, they announced, "OpenAI for Countries, our new global initiative to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government".
But this partnership, rather than developing the 'sovereign AI' promised by OpenAI, risks further entrenching the UK's reliance on US Big Tech.
It is, in fact, the exact opposite of Kyle's rhetoric: binding our country into deals with Google and OpenAI not only opens up our data to train their tools, but will force us to be a rule taker from Silicon Valley, with little agency over our own digital future.
There is a level of credulity towards the claims of Big Tech that we have come to expect from this Government - and in particular from a Secretary of State who has been described as "the honourable member for Silicon Valley".
Ministers are facing a range of serious challenges, but they are often all too willing to see the AI products being hawked by tech giants as a near-magical solution.
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Just in the past few months, we've heard claims that AI tools will help save vast amounts of taxpayers' money and civil servants' time. Ministers have claimed that AI summaries will cut the backlog of asylum cases - while downplaying findings that they will also introduce a significant number of errors into what can be a life or death decision-making process.
Documents unearthed by Foxglove, the tech justice NGO where I work, have revealed that ministers seeking to prop up an overwhelmed justice system sought ideas from tech and security companies at a recent summit. Among the suggestions: using super-computers to predict crime and the potential of "subcutaneous tracking" for "behavioural management".
And just this week, the border security Minister said that AI tools used by online retailers to estimate age should be deployed to assess whether children seeking asylum are treated as adults.
Whatever the problem, it seems, ministers are happy to take Big Tech's most optimistic PR fluff as the solution.
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Meanwhile, the secretary of state seems to view himself primarily as a cheerleader for US tech giants with concerns being raised over just how regularly he meets with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google. He even told Amazon that he would "advocate" for them with the Government's competition watchdog - at the same time that they were being investigated by them.
This is surprising, as just a brief look across the Atlantic will show just how closely these very same tech companies are working with Trump, to mutually advance a distinctly 'America First' agenda in which US dominance is secured by rolling out its AI products across t...
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
Compare the UK Government's recent announcements on AI with the US tech industry's press releases and it can often be hard to tell the difference.
This week the Technology Secretary announced a new 'partnership' with OpenAI - a multi-billion dollar tech giant that has aligned itself closely with US President Donald Trump.
"This partnership will support the UK's goal to build sovereign AI in the UK," claims Peter Kyle's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sam Altman's firm. What it fails to explain is exactly how putting more key digital infrastructure in the hands of a US tech giant will help build the UK's 'sovereign' capacity.
The tech secretary's announcement is reminiscent of OpenAI's recent sales pitch: earlier this year, they announced, "OpenAI for Countries, our new global initiative to help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government".
But this partnership, rather than developing the 'sovereign AI' promised by OpenAI, risks further entrenching the UK's reliance on US Big Tech.
It is, in fact, the exact opposite of Kyle's rhetoric: binding our country into deals with Google and OpenAI not only opens up our data to train their tools, but will force us to be a rule taker from Silicon Valley, with little agency over our own digital future.
There is a level of credulity towards the claims of Big Tech that we have come to expect from this Government - and in particular from a Secretary of State who has been described as "the honourable member for Silicon Valley".
Ministers are facing a range of serious challenges, but they are often all too willing to see the AI products being hawked by tech giants as a near-magical solution.
UK's £32m Investment in Peter Thiel-backed Autonomous Weapons Firm Revealed Amid Deepening Ties to Trump Administration
The contracts, seen by Byline Times, include £7 million for a fleet of near silent 'ghost drones'
Max Colbert
Just in the past few months, we've heard claims that AI tools will help save vast amounts of taxpayers' money and civil servants' time. Ministers have claimed that AI summaries will cut the backlog of asylum cases - while downplaying findings that they will also introduce a significant number of errors into what can be a life or death decision-making process.
Documents unearthed by Foxglove, the tech justice NGO where I work, have revealed that ministers seeking to prop up an overwhelmed justice system sought ideas from tech and security companies at a recent summit. Among the suggestions: using super-computers to predict crime and the potential of "subcutaneous tracking" for "behavioural management".
And just this week, the border security Minister said that AI tools used by online retailers to estimate age should be deployed to assess whether children seeking asylum are treated as adults.
Whatever the problem, it seems, ministers are happy to take Big Tech's most optimistic PR fluff as the solution.
Controversial Spy-Tech Firm's Inclusion at NHS Confederation Expo Leads to Speaker Pulling Out
An internal NHS Confederation email acknowledged that 'many colleagues will have concerns' about Palantir's inclusion
Max Colbert and Olly Haynes
Meanwhile, the secretary of state seems to view himself primarily as a cheerleader for US tech giants with concerns being raised over just how regularly he meets with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google. He even told Amazon that he would "advocate" for them with the Government's competition watchdog - at the same time that they were being investigated by them.
This is surprising, as just a brief look across the Atlantic will show just how closely these very same tech companies are working with Trump, to mutually advance a distinctly 'America First' agenda in which US dominance is secured by rolling out its AI products across t...
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