UK PM Keir Starmer announces AI Opportunities Action Plan: All you need to know 

The UK Government has recently announced its plans to ‘turbocharge’ the development of the national AI sector across the UK over the next decade.

The government has committed to integrating all 50 recommendations presented in Matt Clifford’s groundbreaking AI Opportunities Action Plan.

The initiative includes creating AI Growth Zones, boosting AI infrastructure, and transforming how public and private sectors deploy AI in their operations.

The plan, led by the Prime Minister alongside the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), aims to make Britain a global leader in artificial intelligence adoption.  

Keir Starmer, says, “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.”

“But the AI industry needs a government on its side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and turbocharge the Plan for Change. That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services.”

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), AI has the potential to boost UK productivity by as much as 1.5 per cent points annually. If fully realised, this could translate to an average of £47B (approximately €56B) in economic gains every year over the next decade.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves MP says, “This action plan is the government’s modern industrial strategy in action. Attracting AI businesses to the UK, bringing in new investment, creating new jobs, and turbocharging our Plan for Change. This means better living standards in every part of the United Kingdom and working people have more money in their pocket.”

£14B and 13,250 jobs committed

The government has already secured £14B (approximately €16.6B) in fresh investment from leading AI tech firms.

• Vantage Data Centres will invest over £12B (approximately €14.2B) to build one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales. This move will create 11,500 jobs.
• Kyndryl, a global leader in IT infrastructure services, will open a new tech hub in Liverpool, adding up to 1,000 AI-related jobs.
• Nscale, one of the UK’s top AI companies, plans to invest $2.5B (approximately €3B) to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the next three years. They have also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026.

The funding comes in addition to the £25B (approximately €30B) in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit in 2024. This funding will generate 13,250 jobs and bolster the UK’s AI infrastructure.

Matt Clifford appointed as PM’s AI advisor

Matt Clifford has been appointed as the Prime Minister’s AI advisor, supported by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Demis Hassabis.

Matt Clifford CBE says, “This is a plan which puts us all-in – backing the potential of AI to grow our economy, improve lives for citizens, and make us a global hub for AI investment and innovation.”

Sir Demis Hassabis says, “The AI Opportunities Action Plan will help the UK unleash AI’s potential to drive growth, accelerate scientific discovery, and tackle important, real-world problems.”

“It’s great that Matt Clifford will be leading this important initiative, which will help the UK continue to be a world leader in AI,” adds Hassabis.

Plans to accelerate AI adoption and development

The government’s AI plan includes 50 recommendations and introduces several measures to accelerate AI development and adoption:

AI Growth Zones  

To accelerate AI innovation, the government has introduced dedicated AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure. 

The first zone will launch in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the UK Atomic Energy Authority, with more zones scheduled to be announced in the summer.

Tim Bestwick, Deputy CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), says, “UKAEA welcomes the AI Opportunities Action Plan and its vision for building cutting-edge AI infrastructure to drive innovation and develop the ‘industries of the future’. As highlighted in the Action Plan, Culham Campus’ high-capacity and connection to the UK’s national electricity grid, coupled with its available land on the Campus, positions it as a prime location for deploying substantial computing facilities.”

This will also serve as a testing ground to drive forward research on how sustainable energy like fusion can power our AI ambitions.

More will be announced in the Summer, with a particular focus on de-industrialised areas of the country with access to power and strong support from local government. 

Investing in Infrastructure  

The plan aims to accelerate computing power, a critical requirement for AI systems. According to the government, this starts immediately with work starting on a brand-new supercomputer. 

The UK aims to increase its computing capacity by twenty times by 2030.

“Our ten-year compute plan also includes a commitment to rapidly develop and implement a long-term compute strategy that will bring together the key ingredients for AI – compute, data, and skills – to keep us at the forefront of the technology and attract the best brains in the world,” says the government.

National Data Library  

Creating a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development, while ensuring the highest standards of privacy and security.

AI Energy Council  

A dedicated AI Energy Council, chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries, will address energy challenges and infrastructure requirements for AI. 

This will directly support the government’s mission to become a clean energy superpower by tapping into technologies like small modular reactors.

Boosting adoption across public and private sectors 

A new digital center of government is being created within the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT).

This will change how artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the public sector to make life better for citizens and improve government efficiency. It will scan for new ideas, pilot them in public sector settings, and then scale them as far as they can go. 

Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle says, “This government is determined that the UK is not left behind in the global race for AI, that’s why the actions we commit to will ensure that the benefits are spread throughout the UK so all citizens will reap the rewards of the bet we make today. This is how we’re putting our Plan for Change in motion.”

The Prime Minister has personally written to his entire Cabinet, tasking them with driving AI adoption and growth in their sectors and making that a top priority for their Departments. 

Expert’s reaction to the AI Opportunities Action Plan

Walter Goodwin, CEO and Founder of Fractile, a UK AI chip startup working to solve one of the biggest barriers to better AI performance says, “It’s fantastic that the government has backed the AI Opportunities Action Plan and committed to building better AI infrastructure. However, as the report highlights, to accrue the greatest benefits from AI in the long-term, the UK must own more of the overall tech stack instead of building it solely using US-derived technology.”

“AI inference chips are one area where the UK has the leverage to build best-in-class capability, which would have multiplicative benefits across UK infrastructure and AI rollout, bringing huge gains to the country’s lagging employee productivity as well as boosting UK deep technology development. The problem is that with current hardware, such large-scale model inferencing is astoundingly expensive. For this to be sustainable in the long term, the UK’s compute aspirations must be underpinned by new, more efficient hardware — and we firmly believe at Fractile that this is an area the UK can be a leader in.”

Simon King, Partner at Octopus Ventures and experienced AI/DeepTech investor says, “AI will come to play a role in every aspect of our lives over the next decade. This Action Plan demonstrates how seriously the Government is taking this change, with a series of wide-ranging and ambitious recommendations: if we implement these it will put the UK in a strong global position.

“However, one area that hasn’t been addressed is access to late-stage capital for homegrown startups. There is a limited, but closing, window to build the Google, Amazon, or Meta equivalents in the age of AI in the UK. Huge investments ─ in the hundreds of millions ─ will be required if UK AI entrepreneurs are to compete on the global stage. Companies like DeepMind sold to Google in an environment where they couldn’t raise the size of funding needed to go it alone, and companies still can’t today,” adds King.

Roman Eloshvili, founder of ComplyControl, a UK company specializing in cutting-edge technology solutions for banks says, “In my opinion, if the UK AI action plan is launched, it could greatly advance the UK compared to other European countries.”

“AI can really be used in most areas of people’s lives: medicine, transport, business, banking, etc. And yes, despite the fact that many people think that AI will “take” their jobs, in fact, the implementation of AI allows enterprises to create many new jobs, and new professions that did not exist before. Artificial Intelligence implementation now requires a hybrid approach – when AI acts independently, but people check the AI results and make key decisions,” continues Eloshvili.

“Besides, I think it is no secret that the introduction of AI is an expensive process, so attracting investment into this industry in the UK is also an important factor. I am sure that if all these plans come true, we will see a qualitatively different technological development in the UK,” concludes Eloshvili.