The UK government held an intimate event for AI executives and investors on Tuesday, attended by key officials including prime minister Keir Starmer, as the Labour administration looked to continue its tech charm offensive.
A number of senior government ministers — including chancellor Rachel Reeves and tech minister Peter Kyle — joined the invite-only celebration, which attendees told Sifted focused on plans to make the UK a more attractive place to build and scale an AI company.
Most of the 100-strong guestlist consisted of founders and investors, sources tell Sifted, including the likes of autonomous vehicles unicorn Wayve’s founder Alex Kendall, AI software agent Tessl CEO Guy Podjarny and VCs from Plural and Index Ventures.
Entrepreneur First’s Matt Clifford, who was appointed the PM’s lead AI advisor in January after devising the government’s strategy for the technology, was also in attendance.
Ministers discussed ramping up government procurement of AI tech from startups, increasing the number of computer science graduates from universities and funnelling more money into startups using pension fund reform, attendees tell Sifted.
But some voiced doubts as to whether ministers’ words would translate into action.
The government has sought to woo the country’s startups with a flurry of AI and tech policy announcements in recent weeks, including Clifford’s strategy which calls for billions of pounds to be ploughed in infrastructure and creating ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ in Oxford and Cambridge.
Shaping policy
Tuesday’s shindig was billed as a “reception to celebrate the UK’s AI ecosystem” and featured speeches from Starmer, as well as Kyle and minister for investment — and former Darktrace founder — Poppy Gustafsson. Ministers, including the PM, also spent time mingling with attendees.
Health minister Wes Streeting and London mayor Siddiq Khan were also there, alongside VCs from Balderton Capital, Dawn Capital and an executive from tech giant Meta.
Ministers spoke about the importance of reducing regulatory barriers to building AI infrastructure, increasing the number of graduates from computer science and machine learning degrees by 10x by 2030 and how AI companies would drive growth in the UK economy.
The mood music after the event was broadly positive among tech founders in attendance, a number of them tell Sifted.
“Starmer made it clear that he wants to see more direct engagement from CEOs and founders at 10 Downing, ensuring that those driving AI innovation are part of shaping its future in the UK,” says Vidya Peters, CEO of Dutch audit platform unicorn Datasnipper.
“There’s a real opportunity for us to contribute ideas that will help shape policy and direction.”
Work to be done
Others tell Sifted that time will tell whether the government follows through on its pro-tech rhetoric.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty on the ground as to whether government noise on startup procurement will turn into substance,” says one startup founder who was at the event, who asked to remain anonymous. “The government can talk about AI all they want, but actually unlocking procurement pathways to buy AI solutions from startups would have a bigger impact.”
Another tells Sifted that while Starmer spoke about how AI was essential to the UK economy, there was a lack of acknowledgement of how far behind the UK was to global powers like the US and China in terms of AI investment.
“I think this was the beginning of a conversation and dialogue between government and business,” says another founder.
“But we will want to talk about getting more money into UK startups, increasing R&D tax credits for really innovative research, helping small businesses be more efficient and how we avoid over regulation of AI.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/keir-starmer-downing-street-ai-party-news/
