With the creation of the Soveregn AI Fund and Unit and Fund designed encourage and invest in the full stack of UK AI capa bility we all want make sure that every aspect of government policy-particularly public procurement -backs this up, shifting as the Bennett School of Public Policy and Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy say “from outsourcing critical infrastructure to US tech giants towards making the government an anchor customer for domestic startups”. This is a recent exchange I had with the Lords DSIT Minister Baroness Lloyd. We will keep on the case!
Lord Clement-Jones
To ask His Majesty’s Government what strategy they have to ensure that the Sovereign AI Fund will support sovereign AI infrastructure and reduce public sector dependence on foreign hyperscale cloud providers.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
(Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
The sovereign AI fund will support early-stage British start-ups at strategically important parts of the AI value chain, including AI infrastructure and compute. It is not designed to replace foreign cloud providers or achieve total UK self-sufficiency. Instead, the fund seeks to reduce our strategic dependence and ensure that the UK has a stake in a world economy transformed by AI.
Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, the Secretary of State has said that Britainn “must be an AI maker, not an AI taker”,—[Official Report, Commons, 18/3/26; col. 55WS.] n and the sovereign AI unit’s own chair has promised British start-ups a guaranteed route to government contracts. But even the AI Minister, Mr Narayan, has admitted that procurement is too hard for British start-ups across government. So when will public procurement, in particular the G-Cloud framework, be reformed to match that promise? Will “sovereign AI” not remain just a slogan without that?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra
(Lab)
Public procurement through G-Cloud must deliver value for money, security, and effective public services. Suppliers are not selected or excluded purely on the basis of nationality where they meet operational security and value for money obligations. The commercialisation of the sovereign AI fund to make the Government an early customer for strategically important UK start-ups is ongoing across technical, commercial and government leads to ensure that a robust, flexible, and scalable option is available.
