Get a sovereignty plan, top advisers tell Cabinet
Plus voters are yet to pick a party on AI.
Happy Tuesday, I'm off to Berlin for GTC, not that I'll be banging on about it much this week 😉.
Today, we're covering calls from the government's top tech advisers for someone in Whitehall to take ownership of a sovereignty strategy, something ministers have so far resisted. We've also got polling showing that public concerns about AI are not yet linked to political voting intentions. That's plenty for No.10's new director of "AI and Society" to think about.
Economic growth is Britain’s priority, but it is easy to overlook how much of our economy is built on small businesses.
According to Shopify, UK businesses on its platform generated more than £70 billion of economic activity last year and supported 479,000 jobs. Its data also shows UK exports are booming.
These insights are published on Shopify’s new global data hub, The Entrepreneur Effect.
For anyone working on the growth or tech agenda, it offers a useful look at where jobs are actually coming from.
Happening Today 📆
First up: At 10am MPs ask the Chair and Chief Executive of Ofcom, Ian Cheshire and Melanie Dawes, about its preparations for social media and chatbot curbs on under 16s from next spring.
Ask me anything: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds faces wide-ranging questions from MPs about AI safety, the Budget, procurement, industrialisation and competition at 2:30pm.
Also this afternoon: The Lords Communications and Digital Committee quizzes the Competition and Markets Authority at 2pm on action it's taken since the digital competition regime came into force. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell and executive director Will Hayter will also be asked about future areas of investigation.
Pour me another one: Nvidia GTC starts in Berlin. The main action is tomorrow, but tonight infrastructure company Era4 hosts drinks to explain how it's turning a former steelworks in south Wales into a data centre.
In today's edition:
🇬🇧 The government's top tech advisers tell it to come up with a sovereignty strategy
🗳️ Voters haven't picked a side on AI.
👀 No. 10 has a big job going
