Here's the deal...
The Budget's bargain for tech.
Happy Thursday,
I'm on a very early train to London, but getting up at 5:30am has at least given me an extra hour to digest yesterday's Budget.
The reaction is largely positive, with some eye-catching announcements for data centre developers and startups. The packages boil down to a bargain the government wants to make with the tech industry — do right by the country and we'll help you too.
But yesterday's measures feel like relatively small steps. The tax relief for founders is narrow, the data centre "covenant" is voluntary, there was nothing in oft-complained-about areas like pension funds and the tax burden, and little on AI adoption.
The actual money, as trailed on Saturday, goes into increasing government AI capacity, but the OBR also released its economic outlook yesterday and it reckons AI will drive productivity growth of just 0.2 percent a year by 2030. To increase that, through widespread AI adoption, bigger decisions lie ahead.
What if a great business idea felt less daunting to pursue?
AI is making it easier for entrepreneurs to turn ideas into businesses, helping with everything from building websites and creating content to managing everyday operations.
Shopify's data shows that businesses on its platform support 9.6 million jobs globally, including 479,000 in the UK.
For policymakers, it means economic growth doesn't just come from big businesses expanding, but from thousands more people being able to start something of their own.
Happening Today 📆
Parliament: The Budget debate continues in the Commons this morning, while at 3pm MPs ask how effective Ofcom is. In the Lords, Nicky Morgan has a question about categorised services under the Online Safety Act, while Conservative peer Kulveer Ranger is asking about the business confidence of AI startups at 11am.
Take your pick: Ofcom has published its views on how social media firms could check a user's age when curbs for under-16s come in next year. It reckons four methods — photo ID, digital ID, banking checks and facial age estimation — are "highly effective".
In today's edition:
🇬🇧 The Budget's deal for data centre developers and founders
