AI is set to become a cornerstone of the UK’s vision for economic and societal renewal with a sweeping action plan unveiled today by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The government has committed to all 50 recommendations outlined in the ambitious AI Opportunities Action Plan created by Matt Clifford CBE, tech entrepreneur and chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader,” declared Starmer. “That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services. That’s the change this government is delivering.”
The plan positions AI as a key driver of national progress, aiming to revolutionise public services, boost productivity, and establish the UK as a global leader in the field.
Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer at OpenAI, said: “From the locomotive to the Colossus computer, the UK has a rich history of leadership in tech innovation and the research and development of AI.
“The government’s AI action plan – led by the Prime Minister and Secretary Peter Kyle – recognises where AI development is headed and sets the UK on the right path to benefit from its growth. The UK has an enormous national resource in the talent of its people, institutions, and businesses which together can leverage AI to advance the country’s national interest.”
A plan to unlock economic potential
The economic benefits of AI adoption form a central tenet of the government’s strategy. The International Monetary Fund estimates that embracing AI could increase productivity by 1.5 percentage points annually. Over a decade, this could add up to £47 billion in economic gains per year, according to Treasury calculations.
The strategy aims not only to grow the economy but to create tangible benefits for citizens.
Dr Jean Innes, CEO of the Alan Turing Institute, said: “This plan offers an exciting route map, and we welcome its focus on adoption of safe and responsible AI, AI skills, and an ambition to sustain the UK’s global leadership, putting AI to work driving growth, and delivering benefits for society.
“We share these ambitions and look forward to working with the government, universities, industry and civil society to shape the future of these technologies to support the UK’s success and improve people’s lives.”
Three major companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl – have already pledged a combined £14 billion in investments, creating 13,250 jobs across the country and reinforcing confidence in the UK’s AI potential. This adds to the £25 billion in commitments secured at last year’s International Investment Summit.
Vantage Data Centres is set to invest over £12 billion in UK data centre projects, including one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales. Meanwhile, Kyndryl will establish a new tech hub in Liverpool—creating up to 1,000 AI-related jobs. Nscale plans to back UK data centre infrastructure with a $2.5 billion investment, which includes the construction of the nation’s largest sovereign AI data centre in Essex by 2026.
Alison Kay, VP for UK and Ireland at Amazon Web Services (AWS), said: “At AWS, we’ve seen first-hand the benefits that digital technologies like AI can bring, and that’s why we’ve announced plans to invest £8 billion over the next five years building, operating, and maintaining data centres in the UK.
“By putting close industry collaboration and public-private partnership at the heart of the government’s agenda, every citizen, community and business in every region of the UK will have the opportunity to realise the benefits of AI, and thrive and grow.”
Zahra Bahrololoumi CBE, CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland, added: “Businesses in the UK are in a prime position to fully unlock the opportunities of AI, thanks to a strong innovation culture and risk-based laws. That is why Salesforce chose the UK as the location of its first-ever AI Centre, building on our commitment to invest $4 billion in our UK operations to harness the transformational power of AI.”
Transforming public services
AI is already being deployed within UK hospitals, helping to modernise the NHS by diagnosing conditions such as breast cancer more swiftly, improving care for non-verbal patients, and expediting patient discharges.
“NHS datasets could be invaluable for impactful AI innovations in healthcare,” said Dr Bilal, Professor of Applied AI and Technology Ethics at Birmingham City University. “But they remain largely inaccessible to many researchers due to prohibitive costs and logistical hurdles.”
“Initiatives like NHS Secure Data Environments are a great start but must be made more affordable, or ideally free, for academic institutions.
Beyond healthcare, the government is betting that broader adoption of AI could achieve similar efficiencies in other public sectors. For instance, the plan highlights its potential to reduce administrative workloads for teachers, speed up planning consultations to facilitate new housing developments, and even identify potholes on roads via AI-enhanced cameras to expedite repairs.
The new strategy introduces AI Growth Zones, designed to accelerate the development of critical infrastructure. These zones will not only expedite planning permissions but also ensure dedicated energy connections to power AI projects. The first such zone will be established in Culham, Oxfordshire.
Building AI infrastructure
Supporting the UK’s AI aspirations requires significant investment in infrastructure. The plan includes:
- A twentyfold increase in public compute capacity, with immediate work commencing on a new supercomputer to support AI advancements.
- The creation of a National Data Library, designed to safely unlock the potential of public data to fuel AI innovation.
- The establishment of a dedicated AI Energy Council, chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries, to address the energy demands of AI development. This aligns with the government’s goal of becoming a clean energy superpower.
- A new government team tasked with developing the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities.
The government also aims to provide stability for businesses by balancing the dynamism of the US and the regulatory guardrails seen in the EU.
Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the UK would leverage its unique strengths: “We already have remarkable strengths we can tap into when it comes to AI—building our status as the cradle of computer science and intelligent machines and establishing ourselves as the third largest AI market in the world.”
Reservations and risks with the AI action plan
While the ambitious plan has been met with enthusiasm by many, industry experts caution against overlooking the potential risks posed by unregulated AI deployment.
Dr Pia Hüsch, Research Fellow in Cyber, Technology and National Security at RUSI, commented: “Labour’s AI Opportunities Action Plan has economic growth as the top priority, shifting focus away from the previous government’s priorities around AI safety and regulation.
“While the focus on investing in infrastructure such as computing power and a national data library is welcome, the UK Government must not forget risks posed by AI technologies or the international partnerships that are needed to secure long-term benefit from AI technologies.”
Similarly, Deryck Mitchelson, Global Chief Information Security Officer at Check Point Software, expressed concerns about security and ethics: “AI integration without airtight security measures will only amplify these risks. External oversight of AI models and training datasets is essential—not optional.
“We need built-in equality, ethics, and a transparent framework to measure outcomes and prove these systems genuinely enhance performance, not just cut costs.”
Mitchelson warned that hasty deployment could erode public trust in AI-driven services and deepen inequality. He emphasised that the government must present this initiative as more than a cost-saving strategy and instead prioritise transparency, accountability, and robust safeguards.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan is a key pillar of the government’s Industrial Strategy and the first stage of a forthcoming Digital and Technology Sector Plan. It also ties into the government’s broader Plan for Change, aiming to ensure AI’s benefits are felt across every corner of the UK.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP underscored the initiative’s dual focus on economic growth and public service transformation: “AI is a powerful tool that will help grow our economy, make our public services more efficient and open up new opportunities to help improve living standards.
“This action plan is the government’s modern industrial strategy in action.”
As the UK accelerates efforts to harness AI, it faces the dual challenge of staying ahead in the global race for innovation while ensuring the potential pitfalls of the technology are minimised. Today’s announcements mark a bold step forward, but the road ahead will require careful navigation.
See also: Sam Altman, OpenAI: ‘Lucky and humbling’ to work towards superintelligence
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