Alert: Number 10 Briefing with Peter Kyle on AI

On 27 February 2025, Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science Innovation and Technology gave a Number 10 Briefing focused on AI. This was part of a series of calls from the Prime Minister’s Office providing updates on government activity and priorities.

The UK’s approach to AI regulation is likely to be significant for two reasons. Firstly (according to the Secretary of State) the UK is the 3rd largest AI market in the world. Secondly because the UK seems to be trying to tread a middle ground between the US Government’s largely laissez faire approach and the EU’s prescriptive regulation with the EU AI Act and growing line of AI-related GDPR cases.

Peter Kyle is the MP for Hove and Portslade (from 2015) and previously served as Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice, Shadow Minister for Schools, and Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary.

General update on priorities and activities

The Secretary of State highlighted 3 priorities in the UK Government’s AI work:

1. Interacting with the economy,
2. Bringing technology to the government for productivity, and
3. Transforming the relationship between citizens and the government,

The Secretary of State discussed the focus on infrastructure for AI, noting that Prime Minister launched an AI Action Plan and hired Matt Clifford for this work. There is also a focus on AI growth zones and getting data centres up and built. The government is also working on planning permissions effectively to help grow AI support including data centres.

The questions after the briefing addressed the Government’s plans regarding AI and copyright, AI and the media industry, the lack of US scale tech giants, ethics, nuclear, AI in SMEs, and the Regulatory Innovation Office.

AI and copyright

The Secretary of State highlighted the tension between AI and creative artistic copyright, and stated that his goal is to support the growth and empowerment of both and that he cannot prioritize one over the other.

Regrettably, the Secretary of State’s view on the conflict between AI and the creative industries seemed not to be well considered. Punter Southall Law has highlighted some of our concerns in responding to the current ongoing consultation in this area. The Secretary of State showed no real understanding of the legal framework which applies to AI & existing copyright laws when it comes to AI and training data. Some of these issues are already the focus of litigation in the UK – for example in the dispute between Getty Images and Stability AI – and it would have been helpful if the Secretary of State had been more comprehensively briefed on the current legal framework.

The Secretary of State did however seem committed to the consultation and said he will bring legislation forward only when technology companies can prove that creators’ works will be protected.

AI and the media industry

The Secretary of State noted that large media companies are entering into deals with AI companies for access, for example News UK’s deal with OpenAI. The Secretary of State’s 3 main goals regarding AI and the media industry are:

1. The need for transparency,
2. Ways of remuneration for creators, and
3. The right to opt out and not engage with AI harvesting.

Technology Giants and high growth deep tech in the UK market

When addressing questions about the lack of US scale tech giants, and the development of high growth deep tech in the UK market, the Secretary of State highlighted the need for more capital in the system available for startups, and that this is an area he is working on with Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Secretary of State also highlighted that the Regulatory Innovation Office is an active partner in the government. Finally, the Secretary of State commented that letting Google DeepMind leave the UK was a mistake and that Government should not have let that happen.

AI ethics and responsible use of data

Regarding the topic of responsible use of data, the Secretary of State mentioned that there has been an extensive consultation process, and the Data Bill is going through Parliament right now. Additionally, there are systems in place for parties to share insights about morals and ethics in AI.

Nuclear

Addressing a question about AI in nuclear projects, the Secretary of State noted that he and Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, have established an AI Energy Council.

Encouraging AI in the SMEs

The Secretary of State said that he has noticed that SMEs are not adopting AI as much as they could, and that the Chancellor has commissioned a review on this very topic.

The Regulatory Innovation Office

The Secretary of State confirmed that the Regulatory Innovation Office is up and running, and that they are piloting 4 main areas:

1. Space,
2. Automotives,
3. AI, and
4. Biotechnology.