AI minister: UK sets sights on global AI leadership, not Silicon Valley emulation
AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the UK must build enough domestic AI capability to “shape our own destiny” rather than rely on overseas tech giants as the government accelerates its push to develop sovereign AI infrastructure.
Narayan told City PM that AI had become “the defining currency” of geopolitical and economic power, arguing that the UK needed to back homegrown companies if it wanted influence over how the technology evolves.
“History teaches us that the nations which pull ahead are those that master the defining currency of their age,” he told City PM. “Today’s defining currency is AI.”
Westminster has placed sovereign AI at the centre of Britain’s industrial strategy amid mounting concerns over dependence on US technology providers for frontier AI models and cloud infrastructure.
Earlier this month, MPs warned Britain risked having access to critical AI technology cut off “at the whim” of allies unless it developed a clearer sovereignty strategy.
Narayan said the government’s priority was not to replicate Silicon Valley but to ensure that Britain built strengths that would allow it to compete on the global stage. “When British AI companies succeed in the areas where the UK has unique strengths, we build our country’s control and leverage, ensuring we are an indispensable partner in the global tech architecture,” he said.
“We’ve launched our £500m Sovereign AI Fund, and are putting £1.1bn behind our AI Hardware Plan to help make this happen.” He added: “That is how we ensure Britain’s voice is heard, setting the standards for how AI is developed and deployed.”
Sovereignty climbs the political agenda
Narayan’s comment comes after Rachel Reeves’ Mansion House speech on Tuesday, in which she dubbed AI “the defining technology of our generation” and pledged further support for British firms developing key parts of the AI supply chain.
The outgoing chancellor said the government would pursue “a serious plan on AI sovereignty”, backing UK companies through its Sovereign AI Unit, AI Hardware Plan and wider investments to ensure “the jobs of the future are created here in Britain”.
The renewed focus comes as policymakers across Europe seek to reduce strategic dependence on foreign technology providers while still attracting international investment into AI.
Sir Keir Starmer’s push to build sovereign British AI capability won backing from some of the country’s biggest companies, with BT, HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest and BAE Systems joining plans to develop the UK’s first sovereign frontier AI model last month.
This coalition of banks and defence contractors signed up to help British AI startup Cosine design ‘Lumen Sovereign’, a UK-built frontier model that will be trained entirely on British infrastructure.
“Government is active in its approach to this, supporting risk-taking, making its own bets, providing the conditions for businesses to thrive, but also making sure we are sovereign,” the prime minister said.
“That is our path: Britain leading this new revolution in technology with our firms at the front and our people at its heart.”
John Harms, head of government solutions at British startup Quantexa, told City PM: “Sovereign AI has become the defining conversation in UK tech. But too much of it still fixates on where infrastructure sits rather than who controls it.”
Harms warned organisations could still lose sovereignty if they became locked into a single AI provider. “You can host everything on British soil and still lack sovereignty if you can’t decide how your data gets used, can’t explain how your AI reaches a decision, or can’t walk away from a vendor without operations grinding to a halt,” he said.
He also argued businesses should focus on governance, portability and operational control rather than “chasing a sovereignty label for PR points”.