Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Sovereign AI Fund on reducing UK reliance on overseas AI infrastructure.

The Sovereign AI Fund is designed to strengthen the UK’s capability in strategically important parts of the AI value chain, including compute and infrastructure. Backed by around £500 million, it combines equity investment, access to public compute, R&D funding, procurement pathways, talent support and wider government support to help strategically significant AI companies start, scale and remain anchored in the UK.

The Fund does not seek total self-sufficiency or to turn away from trusted international partners. Its purpose is to increase UK resilience, choice and influence in a global AI economy. Since launching in April, the Fund has already announced 3 direct equity investments in Callosum, Ineffable Intelligence, and Isomorphic Labs, as well as 6 more compute offers. The Fund complements wider Government action to expand public compute and AI infrastructure.