The Chancellor has told entrepreneurs looking to build new AI products to “come to the UK” after announcing plans to create a new economics institute focused on the technology and a £500 million fund.
Rachel Reeves emphasised the importance of scaling British AI businesses to avoid excessive dependency on other countries for new technologies, unveiling the creation of the new institute and greater investment in AI at the annual Mais Lecture at the Bayes Business School in London.
The AI economics institute will focus on monitoring the impact of the new technology on the UK’s productivity and jobs markets.
It was the second of three “big choices” announced in her speech, as she laid out ambitions for the UK to have the fastest take-up of AI in the G7.
“We will back your experiment to push the bounds of possibility and to get your product, your creation off the ground”, she told entrepreneurs, as she announced a £500 million commitment for starting and scaling AI start-ups in Britain.
Her announcement comes amid a period of global turbulence, as the UK faces rising energy prices and economic shocks caused by the US-Israel war with Iran.
However, the Chancellor said she hopes investment in AI will help to ensure greater resilience against these global shocks.
While she acknowledged widespread anxiety around developments in AI, Ms Reeves said the UK must not shy away from investment in the technology and “leave it to other countries whose values may differ to ours” to shape the development of the industry.
