Britain must shape AI future or be left at its “mercy and whim”, Liz Kendall warns

The Technology Secretary said the UK needed greater control over artificial intelligence as ministers prepare a new hardware plan and expand support for domestic firms

Britain must seize greater control over artificial intelligence or risk being left at the “mercy and whim” of a future shaped elsewhere, Liz Kendall has warned.

In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, the Technology Secretary said the government wanted to reduce strategic dependence in key parts of the AI economy as the technology becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of firms.

Just five companies now control 70 per cent of global AI compute, up from about 60 per cent a year ago, she said.

“The choice isn’t between a world that has AI and one that does not,” Kendall added. “It is a choice between a world where we shape our AI future, based on our own interests and values, or where we are left at its mercy and whim.”

The government has already launched Sovereign AI, a £500 million programme intended to back British AI companies as they start up, scale up and compete globally.

Ministers say the scheme will combine direct investment with wider state support, including access to supercomputing, faster visa routes for research talent, backing from the British Business Bank and government procurement.

But Kendall said Britain now needed to go further in areas where strategic dependence could leave the country exposed, including through a new AI Hardware Plan to be unveiled at London Tech Week in June.

The speech also pointed to a wider state-backed push to strengthen domestic capability, including £400 million ringfenced by the Ministry of Defence to support British innovation and £100 million for ARIA’s scaling compute programme, half of it for a scaling inference lab to help start-ups test new AI hardware.

Kendall said the global AI chips market was growing at 30 per cent a year and could be worth US$1 trillion in the early 2030s, arguing that Britain was well placed to compete in new, faster and more energy-efficient AI hardware.

“If Britain could secure just 5% of this market it would bring fifty billion dollars in revenue to the UK with tens of thousands of high paid jobs in tech,” she said.

“There are those who say this race is already lost. That it is too late to challenge the dominance of the US or China in AI chips. But I do not accept such defeatism.”

Britain also needed to cut its reliance on others in the areas that matter most, while continuing to work with overseas investors and allies. “For Britain, AI sovereignty is about reducing over dependencies and increasing resilience in key national strategic priorities,” Kendall said.

That approach, she added, would make the UK “a keystone in the global tech architecture – an indispensable partner”.

Tuesday’s speech also cast AI as a matter of national security as well as economic policy, with Kendall arguing that closer work with allies would be part of Britain’s response. “Today the defining currency is AI,” she said. “And the countries which harness AI will not only lead the race to cure diseases, discover new materials and create trillion dollar companies … but also build far more powerful militaries.”

She pointed to existing technology partnerships with Germany, France, Canada and Japan, as well as further cooperation on AI security and model evaluation.

Kendall also rejected calls to slow development. “We’ve already heard calls, including in Parliament, to ‘Pause AI’,” she said. “I think doing so would be a double betrayal.”

“It would send a message that Britain is closed to new ideas and new opportunities. That a country so rich in talent, innovation and enterprise has put an ‘out of office’ sign on its front door.”

READ MORE: Europe launches ‘anti-kill switch’ cloud shield as Trump fears grip Brussels. Four European tech firms have unveiled a new sovereign recovery system as fresh polling shows most Europeans believe the U.S could one day pull the plug on vital digital services

Do you have news to share or expertise to contribute? The European welcomes insights from business leaders and sector specialists. Get in touch with our editorial team to find out more.

_{Main image: Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, who used a speech at RUSI to call for greater UK control over artificial intelligence. Credit: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology handout}