UK science advisers urge action to build domestic AI capabilities

London, United Kingdom. Britain must urgently strengthen its own artificial intelligence capabilities or risk becoming a major customer unable to influence the technology, the government’s leading science advisers have warned.

Advisers warn of growing dependence

In a letter emailed to AI minister Kanishka Narayan, the Council for Science and Technology said choices taken now would determine Britain’s ability to secure AI’s economic and public benefits while preserving resilience and strategic autonomy.

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The independent body, which provides government advice on science and technology policy, warned that Britain could fall behind without swift, deliberate intervention.

“The way for us to achieve AI sovereignty is to build trusted systems that deliver real public, economic and security benefits,” the advisers said.

Governments worldwide are competing to develop AI capabilities amid concerns that a lack of domestic expertise, computing infrastructure and models could deepen reliance on the small group of predominantly US-based companies dominating the technology.

Coordinated policy and domestic investment

The council recommended putting one government lead in charge of coordinating policy on AI sovereignty. It also called for investment in skills, data and computing infrastructure, alongside trials of AI systems in fields such as national security, health and education.

The advisers said Britain should retain access to leading global AI systems while building selected capabilities domestically. They proposed exploring a British AI model under public governance that could be accessible to researchers, startups and public services.

The government did not provide an immediate response when asked for comment.