Big tech companies are pumping billions into AI investment in the UK, but the UK risks becoming a half-brother of US tech giants

The UK has shown time and time again that some of the best AI expertise in the world is here. The talent pool available in the country, the level of research and development at academic institutions, and the UK’s (generally) stable economic situation have made the island nation a highly attractive place for tech industry titans for decades. It has become. Put down roots.

That’s why not only American companies but also companies from Japan, China, South Korea, Germany, and Singapore gather here. And our recent history highlights our true pedigree in software process and design.

Google News When Britain built its own giant

recently interview, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has expressed a desire to build a “British Microsoft” and warned that it would take 10 years for such an initiative to materialize. But this is not the first time Britain has produced its own tech giant.

I worked at Arm for over 20 years starting in the 1990s. During this time, the company grew from a small Cambridge spinout (named Acorn Computers) to a global technology giant. The company became perhaps the world’s largest processor company. This has been made possible by talent from UK academic institutions such as Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Southampton, Manchester and many others. We were world leaders.

Another landmark moment for AI in the UK was the establishment of DeepMind in 2010. DeepMind was one of the most exciting AI companies in the world. However, DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014 for $400 million (huge amount at the time).

So why, with all this talent, is our focus on overseas companies instead of focusing on building and sustaining our own technology ventures and turning them into global players? Does it always seem to be focused on the movement of capital?

The fact that we are heralding companies like Microsoft becoming further integrated into the fabric of British technology is why we, as a nation, need to crack the code to build our own tech stalwarts. It definitely raises the question of whether or not they did.

Our university has a strong ability to create spin-outs, our funding environment is conducive to funding, and we have access to early-stage venture capital. But the capital these companies need to continue to grow and be able to challenge the best technology companies in the world just doesn’t exist. This is a challenge that the UK government has not yet addressed.UK start-ups need to ensure their ability to scale up and stay in the UK

Google News Today’s capital and talent matrix

of Goliath-sized funding round The company brought forward by British self-driving car technology startup Wayve is a perfect example of this capital tipping point problem in action. The company recently secured $1.05 billion (£840 million) in funding led by Japan’s Softbank, with Microsoft and Nvidia also participating. This is the largest known investment in an AI company in the UK, and wider Europe, to date, once again driven by overseas capital.

It has become almost institutionalized over the past decade that UK start-ups are encouraged to have a presence in the US simply to access scaling capital. The Government will be careful about what the incentives are and what the actual strategy is for scaling up UK technology so that it can take advantage of the returns that will be generated when the UK stock market scales up in earnest. need to be considered. We need an industrial strategy that more effectively supports and strengthens the qualifications and potential of UK technology start-ups.

Given the wealth of deep tech talent that London and the UK can offer, and the advancement of the technology community over the past 20 years, the question we need to ask is: Are companies like Microsoft here to build, or are they here to steal? That’s what we’re here to do. Do they intend to introduce a new layer to the UK tech community in and around London, or do they intend to source more talent and phase that talent (or the fruits of their labor) back to the US? Are you planning on doing so?

Currently, there are few places in the world to find top AI talent. But if big tech companies outside the UK are in control of everything, what is left for British companies? We need talented AI engineers to come and build the next Arm, DeepMind, Google, or Microsoft.

This is also a perpetual cycle, as large companies not only directly hire top talent, but also attract an ecosystem of supplier companies, and some of their more experienced employees go on to found new companies. Having a global, world-leading domestic company has a significant positive impact at the national level, beyond market capitalization. The Prime Minister has been more vocal about Britain’s potential to generate these businesses, but words need to be translated into concrete action.

But ultimately, we have to ask ourselves: Are we content to play a supporting role to America’s established tech companies? Before declaring victory, the UK, as a technology community and as a nation, should reflect on what success actually looks like and what it ultimately aspires to be.

Noel Hurley is CEO of Literal Labs and former Vice President of Arm.

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