While existential risk from AI has hit the news a number of times over recent years, this is the week it finally went properly mainstream, with even the King raising concerns. It’s been a long time coming.
All the way back in 2018, when the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence flippantly dismissed the warnings of thinkers like Nick Bostrom, I wrote that this should be a serious concern for policymakers. At the very least, we should keep an open mind about this.
To be clear, thinking this risk is legitimate doesn’t come with a ready-made set of policies, nor does it mean that AI companies need to pause or even slow down. Some argue the opposite — that democratic countries should do everything to win this race in order to mitigate the risk of despotic countries winning.
To that end, our friends at the Centre for British Progress have just released a report looking at how the UK can lead on AI. Among other things, it recommends pricing grid capacity and opening transmission connections to competition, and letting data centres run on their own gas while they wait for the grid. It also calls for a Building Britain Act to fast-track planning in AI Growth Zones, with one environmental assessment per zone rather than per project.
Diary Notices
Some dates for your diaries:
Civil servants should join us in the House of Lords on 1 October to discuss how AI and digital transformation can deliver better public services.
Female founders, investors and anyone working to close the gender funding gap should join us at IDEALondon in Shoreditch on 7 October to discuss the barriers women face raising capital and scaling their businesses.
Entrepreneurs and everyone who believes in what international talent brings to Britain should join us in London on 14 October to discuss the foreign-born founders behind our fastest-growing companies.
Anyone interested in the future of self-employment should join us in the House of Lords on 21 October to discuss what AI is doing to self-employment.
Join a dozen fellow founders in Bloomsbury on 5 November to discuss whatever is actually on their minds, over coffee and pastries, with no agenda, no pitches and no panels.
Ecosystem builders and founders in our network should join us in Bristol on 19 November as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Do you want to be proactively invited to our events? If so, fill in this form so we know what you’re interested in. We have a lot coming up — and there is something for everyone.
Pillar Talk
The Invest in Women Taskforce has published its 2026 manifesto, Driving Lasting Change, built on five pillars: gender balance in investment policy, better representation among decision-makers, transparency, tax incentives and education. The fifth draws on Ideas to Impact, specifically our finding with Barclays through the Female Founders Forum: fewer than 8% of UK spinouts had all-women founding teams, against more than 75% all-male.
Among other things, the Taskforce calls for the seven-year Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) eligibility limit to be removed and a carry-forward mechanism introduced for unused EIS and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) allowances. Read it here.
Leave to Trade
The Cedar Review, an independent review into refugee entrepreneurship led by Small Business Britain, has now reported. I sat on its Steering Board. People seeking asylum can’t work at all for 12 months, and after that only as employees in a narrow set of listed roles — self-employment is excluded outright at every stage, whatever the person did before they arrived. Read it here.
Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, who supported our first Job Creators report in 2019, is a reminder of what that contribution can look like. He arrived from Uganda in 1972 at 13, fleeing Idi Amin, and spent more than a year in temporary accommodation. He was working the markets at Petticoat Lane and Liverpool Street by 15, and in 1978 opened a single car parts shop in Willesden. Euro Car Parts eventually ran to more than 300 sites and 12,000 employees before selling in a deal reported at up to £280 million.
Board Room
When Parliament returns after the party conference season, the Advisory Board of the All-Party Parliamentary Group will resume its monthly meetings. For this group, we’re looking for those in trade and membership bodies, associations, research centres and universities, as well as think tanks and quasi-public bodies. If you’re keen to be considered, drop Mann Virdee an email.