Marketing Newscast

(Edited 20 January 2025)

On Monday, 13th January 2025, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the AI Opportunities Action Plan, a programme committed to turn the UK into an AI Global Leader. 

The programme, created by Starmer’s AI advisor Matt Clifford, proposes a 50-step plan towards a smarter future to help revolutionise the next phase of AI development in the UK and to “shape the AI revolution rather than wait to see how it shapes us.” 

Clifford proposes new AI growth zones, developments in tech infrastructure and the utilisation of AI within the public and private sector to help cultivate homegrown talent and to ensure Britain remains at the forefront for AI development. 

The plan includes £14bn in investment towards various AI projects and the aim to create more than 13,000 jobs within the sector. Here are the key takeaways: 

Creating AI Infrastructure Hubs and Growth Zones

The plan includes building new AI infrastructure hubs and data centres to be established across the UK, with the first zone set to be tested in Oxfordshire. The AI Growth Zones will be set up across the country and will speed up planning approvals for the rapid build-out of data centres with clean energy-powered AI data centers to meet sustainability demands. 

There will also be a push for recruitment of global AI talent as well as focusing on fundamental AI research to be conducted within the UK. Starmer emphasises the need for “high-quality research and engineering talent coming out of our universities, which are some of the best in the world for AI.”

The drive to bring in top talent from abroad will also see changes in the UK work visa to help tech startups attract non-UK talent. 

UK Set to Become AI Global Leader 

Utilisation of AI within the Private and Public Sector 

The plan includes utilising AI to integrate into the workplace to help streamline administrative tasks and allow public sector employees to focus more on service delivery. The Prime Minister has urged all ministers to integrate AI into their daily operations.

The Government has stated that the use of AI could increase productivity by 1.5% a year, creating an extra £47bn over a decade, with these new measures aiming to make the UK a desirable location to start, scale, or grow an AI firm. 

Examples of public sector use of AI flagged by the government include helping teachers prepare for lessons, with the technology aiming to increase the prevalence of AI in people’s working lives and to “open up new opportunities rather than just threaten traditional patterns of work.”

A new National Data Library is also set to be created to safely support the use of public data for AI development. 

Starmer also mentioned plans to construct a new supercomputer, aiming to increase the nation’s computing power twentyfold by 2030.

The government will also establish a dedicated AI Energy Council chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries. This council will collaborate with energy companies to address the energy demands and challenges associated with AI, aligning with the government’s goal to become a clean energy superpower.

UK to be an AI maker, not an AI taker

The Prime Minister has stated that AI has the potential to drive incredible change in the UK and could transform the lives of working people."We're going to make AI work for everyone in our country," he says, with the "battle for the jobs of tomorrow happening today". 

Clifford’s plan states that the UK is well positioned to remain at the forefront of innovation, with the UK AI sector attracting £200 million a day in private investment, an average of more than £8.3m every hour, since July 2024. Clifford proposes that the nation should be an “AI maker, not an AI taker,” with the intention to become the best state partner to those at the forefront of AI innovation. 

The UK’s Action Plan offers a roadmap that could help redefine industries and unlock untapped potential across the country. AI in the workplace is no longer a futurist concept but one that is embraced by several workplaces to boost productivity and improve decision-making. 

We believe that the planning system will benefit from the adoption of AI to help administrative processes and accelerate decision making, but there will still be the important element of the human advantage in policy interpretation and creativity in order to optimise development potential.  We’d love to know your thoughts on AI in the workplace and whether you think the technology will transform sectors such as development and planning or whether you think there’s still a long way to go for its implementation in these industries.