UK Tech Vies for AI Startups to Escape Silicon Valley’s Shadow
Fintech is slowing. Arm is gone. But British techies see green fields in a post-Brexit world.
London is home to numerous emerging unicorns in the red-hot field of generative AI.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis year did not begin well for technology in the UK. Venture financing evaporated. Companies cut staff and tightened belts. A bank collapse shocked startups. Bosses at two of Britain’s largest tech firms, Deliveroo and Revolut, both chastised UK regulators for stifling innovation. And the sector’s crown jewel, Arm Ltd., decamped for a US listing, spoiling London’s image as an attractive investment capital.
Then, when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to make the nation a science “superpower” by the decade’s end, executives balked at the sums of money tabled to support the ambition. This included £1 billion ($1.2 billion) to bolster domestic semiconductor development, while the US and EU announced $50 billion and €43 billion ($46.3 billion) respectively. Nigel Toon, the chief executive officer of the UK chip startup Graphcore, warned paltry investments in homegrown UK tech “will quickly be consumed” by titans overseas.