AI minister warned UK risks becoming ‘high-value AI customer’

Britain risks becoming a high value AI customer rather than developing its own tech unless ministers urgently invest in domestic firms, the government s top science advisory body has warned. In a letter to AI minister Kanishka Narayan, the Council for Science and Technology (CST) called for a national AI sovereignty plan to reduce Britain s reliance on foreign tech and protect its long-term competitiveness. Without deliberate and urgent action, the UK risks becoming a high-value AI customer, rather than country able to shape the technology and its usage , the council warned. The letter, originally sent in July, comes amid mounting pressure on ministers to reduce Britain s dependence on US tech giants, which dominate the cloud infrastructure and advanced AI models used by UK PLC. The CST, which advises the prime minister and cabinet, said the government needed to identify which technologies Britain should develop itself and where reliance on overseas suppliers was accepta