UK launches £100 million sovereign AI procurement scheme

The UK government has announced the first procurement competitions under its £100 million Sovereign AI R&D Procurement Scheme.

• The scheme will back British AI startups to develop demonstrator-stage solutions for the NHS, compute efficiency, defence mission environments, and AI agent security.
• The government says successful firms will keep the intellectual property they create, and that the AI Economics Institute will be opened to international cooperation with G7 countries.
• The announcement was made by Chancellor John Healey MP at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in North Carolina.
• This is presented as the first competitions launched under the scheme, with further challenges expected later.