Labour accused of abandoning UK tech in AI push

UK creative and tech industries say Sir Keir Starmer is ‘making a mockery’ of his AI Sovereignty pledge - Alberto Pezzali/AP

Labour has been accused of abandoning British tech firms despite Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to transform the country into an artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse.

Ministers have assembled new working groups with companies in the creative and tech sectors to address concerns that the rapid growth of AI is riding roughshod over copyright laws.

However, attendee lists seen by The Telegraph show that only one UK tech firm – the AI video maker Synthesia – has been invited to the meetings.

Meanwhile, a host of US tech firms including Amazon, Apple, Meta, Nvidia and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, are on the list.

The disparity has sparked accusations that the Government is failing to engage with British tech firms and prioritising the interests of their larger US rivals instead.

A creative industries source said: “Not content with hollowing out the creative sector in favour of Big Tech, it seems the Government is choosing to favour the interests of US AI giants over UK startups and challengers.

“This blinkered attitude to engagement makes a mockery of the Government’s supposed commitment to ‘AI Sovereignty’, with UK-based generative AI firms already put at a massive competitive disadvantage by the ability of Big Tech to seemingly ignore UK law at will.”

The working groups were established last month following the controversial passing of the Government’s Data Bill.

Credit: Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg – BBC One

The laws sparked a furious backlash from high-profile figures in the creative industries including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa, who warned tech companies would be given free rein to use copyrighted material to train their AI models without paying for it.

The bill was held up in the House of Lords after peers led by Baroness Kidron tried to table an amendment that would force tech firms to declare when they were using copyrighted material.

However, the Government refused to accept the amendment, saying it was carrying out a separate consultation on copyright.

Two meetings of the working groups have already taken place, with the third scheduled for early next month. The final meeting will be attended by industry lobby group TechUK, which said it would represent its members and ensure their voices were heard.

Nevertheless, Baroness Kidron, a filmmaker who directed Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, said it was “beyond disappointing” that only one UK AI company was represented in the groups.Baroness Kidron tried to table an amendment to the Data Bill forcing tech firms to declare use of copyrighted material - David Rose

She added: “We cannot grow our AI sector if the Government continually offers preferential treatment to US companies. It is as if they have not understood the last two decades in which Silicon Valley transfers economic benefit offshore, nor the declared needs of UK companies to benefit from being headquartered in a data-rich, innovative and creative nation.

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“Ultimately, the Government will have to find a national story for tech. At the moment they are slaves to an American narrative.”

Ausrine Skarnulyte, chief executive of UK AI startup Voice Swap, said: “There is a real risk that the chosen US firms, with their deep funding and budgets, will end up setting the terms of debate, leaving UK companies to adapt to rules they had little hand in shaping.

“If the Government is serious about ‘AI sovereignty’, then UK AI businesses need to be in the room.”

The creative industries source added: “Ethical AI firms are willing to pay for the creative content that fuels their models, but the Government seemingly isn’t interested in this perspective.

“Ignoring the UK creative and tech sectors in policy development will guarantee that the value of AI is realised, and taxed, in the US.”

A government spokesman denied ministers were prioritising the interests of US companies over British ones.

They added: “A range of British voices have been contributing to this work, as part of close engagement with both the creative industries and the AI sector to drive AI innovation and ensure robust protections for creators.

“We are bringing together both British and global companies, alongside voices beyond the AI and creative sectors, to ensure we can capture the broadest possible range of expert views as we consider next steps.”