Lisa Nandy: AI and cultural exports boost growth – but creators must be paid
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has claimed that AI and cultural exports will drive jobs and growth, while insisting creators must be paid in the digital age.
At the India Global Forum on Wednesday, Nandy touted the UK and India’s new cultural and tech affiliations for already generating investment – from sport and film, to AI-powered broadcasting.
Her claims come just a month after her visit to Mumbai and New Delhi, where she signed a bilateral cultural cooperation agreement with India’s culture minister, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
“We are seeing the most incredible collaborations in sport – being able to use AI to both reach people, improve the amount of commentary, and immerse people in sport in a way that they haven’t been able to do as viewers before”, she told City PM.
Her comments come amid Labour’s efforts to reboot Britain’s so-called soft power, with Nandy championing the role of AI, regional leadership and diaspora ties in a new model of creative diplomacy.
But growing unease in the UK’s cultural industries – from film makers to writers – has put pressure on ministers to turn optimism into protections for creators navigating this digital shift.
Job creation across the UK
Speaking to City PM at the forum, Nandy was keen to stress how much cultural investment is already delivering for the UK economy.
The minister highlighted new tech firms “taking Wimbledon to the world” using immersive AI, as an example.
She praised mayors like West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin, who recently travelled to India, and, Nandy said, “was able to go over and secure an agreement for jobs to come directly to West Yorkshire”.
She also called out the creative crossover with India’s film industry – one of the world’s largest – as a huge opportunity for collaboration, not competition.
“We think there’s amazing potential for us to do more together”, Nandy said about the recent agreement, citing the strength of the UK’s booming film sector and its new tax relief for independent films.
No to streamers levy – yes to global investment
Despite a recent parliamentary committee recommending a levy on streamers like Netflix to support British TV drama, Nandy rejected the idea outright.
“We would be very reluctant to introduce additional levies at a time when business is booming”, she claimed. “The UK is open for business, and we’re able to attract huge amounts of investment that help to create good jobs in every part of the country”.
Pointing to Netflix’s recent hit, ‘Adolescence’, as an example of global content made in the UK, Nandy emphasised that Labour wants to attract more, rather than less, production spending.
That approach may sit uneasily with independent production companies grappling with a slowdown in commissions and rising costs.
Nandy acknowledged those challenges, yet claimed the UK still had “some of the best TV production in the world”, adding: “This isn’t just a London story. This is a whole of the United Kingdom story”.
AI and copyright: ‘no easy solutions’
At the Deloitte media and telecoms 2025 conference last month, Nandy pledged that forthcoming AI copyright legislation would be shaped in full consultation with the creative sector.
“If (the legislation) doesn’t work for the creative sector, it won’t work for us”, she told delegates. “We’re working with you to find a solution with transparency and trust as its foundation”.
Nandy confirmed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will host a series of roundtables with media and entertainment groups in coming months.
She also said the process would be “open-minded”, with “no preferred option” currently on the table.
“We will play our part, but we need you to play yours”, she urged. “I will never stop working for creatives to deliver solutions, transparency and the empowerment that you need in the digital age”.
This follows the UK government recently rejecting a House of Lords-backed amendment to the data bill for the second time, intensifying a stand-off between policy makers and the creative industries over the role of copyright in AI development.
At the centre of this dispute is a provision, introduced by Baroness Beeban Kidron, that would require AI firms to disclose the copyrighted works used to train their models and secure consent from rights holders.
Supporters have said the amendment is vital to safeguarding the intellectual property in the face of rapid AI expansion.
Ministers argue the proposal risks fragmenting regulation and undermining ongoing consultations.
Tech as a leveller
Nandy also used her India visit to promote AI as a democratising force in creative production.
Smaller firms and startups, she argued, could benefit from cheaper, more scaleable tools.
“Technology is really going to democratise the film industry”, Nandy said. “It makes it far easier and cheaper for smaller startups and indies to make high quality films and to compete with bigger studios”.
But – she admitted tech alone won’t fix the UK’s creative economy.
“We don’t think independent film tax credits are the silver bullet. There are lots of things that we can do to support the whole ecosystem”, she said – including tackling the lack of small-scale studio space.
Cultural diplomacy
Nandy’s cooperation agreement, aimed at updating a 20-year-old co-production treaty, pledges to reflect a changed global media landscape where India offers 40 per cent of production rebates and massive reach.
The UK, for its part, will bring world-class talent and studios to the new affiliation.
“What we’re keen to do is to take that to the next level”, said Nandy, “so that we’re not competing, we’re collaborating for our mutual benefit”.
But as ministers talk up AI and innovation overseas, the need for fair pay, proper protections and long term funding crystallises.