Nothing in, nothing out

Happy Friday, but not in my household where we're without a shower.

Happening Today 🗓️

Planning day: UK Tech Week starts Monday with around 40 events across the country. Things kick off in Manchester, while on Wednesday in Westminster the focus is on founders meeting MPs. There is also an all-star panel at the end of the day.

Cancel all leave: Monday is techUK's policy conference and Nvidia GTC starts. On Wednesday it's the government's AI-copyright update (more below) and on Thursday at 10am The Morning Intelligence is hosting a webinar to chat through the update and look at next steps. Register here.

News In Brief 🩳

Ex-Amazon boss rules himself out: The competition watchdog's boss has recused himself from its pivotal decision on cloud this month. Doug Gurr, who chairs the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and is a former Amazon executive, said he won't take part in the decision on whether to investigate Amazon Web Services for cloud dominance out of an "abundance of caution".

All change: Google staff will start moving into the company's massive new London office - Platform 37 - this summer. The name, announced yesterday, is a nod to its location next to King's Cross Station and a reference to "move 37", a chess play made by DeepMind’s AlphaGo. It will house a public space called the "AI Exchange". Meanwhile, Google's former European boss Matt Brittin is closing in on the role of the BBC Director General, the Guardian reports.

Keep the kids away: AI-powered toys that “talk” with young children should be more tightly regulated and carry new safety kitemarks, Cambridge University researchers recommend in a report out today.

Flying blind: MPs have accused the government of "flying blind" on how innovation policy is impacting regional growth. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee said there were “major shortfalls” in data.

Nothing in, nothing out

Ministers will rule nothing in and nothing out when they update next week on their work to find a way through the AI-Copyright debate. Despite reports, there will be no changes to expand text and data mining (TDM) exceptions beyond non-commercial research, according to three people familiar with government thinking. But ministers are not going to rule out TDM exceptions completely either.

Stuck: DSIT and DCMS will publish an update and economic impact assessment on Wednesday but there will be no new policy despite a three-month consultation and several "working groups" meeting from all sides. Instead it is viewing next Wednesday as another moment to "reset" the debate, the people above said.

Strike out: Expanding TDM exceptions has long been an ask of tech companies and has been looked at by officials, but won’t be included in the update. Creative industries want it ruled out, as the Australian government did last year, arguing it would encourage tech companies to strike licensing deals with publishers.

What to expect: The lack of a “landing zone”, means next week the two sides will put forward well-rehearsed positions on why the government should/shouldn't change copyright law.

💡 Join us for an online panel and Q&A to talk about next steps on AI-Copyright on Thursday March 19 at 10am.

'We Brits underestimate ourselves'

I’m running a Q&A with industry, political and policy leaders every Friday.

This week is Alex Stephany, the CEO and founder of Beam, a social enterprise which develops tech solutions for public services. Their AI tool, Magic Notes, is used by hundreds of councils and they've expanded to the US and Australia.

As a UK tech company, do you feel you get the same coverage and attention you would if you were a US tech company?

We Brits tend to underestimate ourselves, which can definitely hold us back. Since launching Beam in Europe, Australia, and the US, our rapid growth has honestly taken me by surprise. That’s me being too British. In reality, non-UK governments everywhere have been incredibly receptive to our tools and UK track record. I was always warned that Americans only buy American tech, but I’ve found Brits to be more snobbish about UK tech than anyone else.

What are some of the procurement challenges you’ve faced?

There are two sides to this story. On the bright side, councils have embraced innovation, moving quickly on AI and enthusiastically adopting our tech. Over two-thirds of UK councils - from the Isle of Wight to the Orkneys - equip their social care teams with Beam’s technology. Outside social care, we partner with frontline workers in employability, housing, and community health. 

When the PM saw the impact we were having on councils up and down the country, he invited me along with a social worker, Joanna James from Ealing Council, to Downing Street. Joanna told him that Beam’s tech has enabled her to fall back in love with her job and support double the number of people each week. 

Central government has been slower, despite the PM and Peter Kyle’s authentic support for homegrown AI companies. Procurement is often broken for UK startups, favouring Big Tech. Indeed, sometimes, UK tech is a civil servant's third choice - after US tech or building in-house. 

How do you think the UK is doing more widely with its AI strategy?

We need to focus on where we can win and build a dynamic, homegrown AI industry. Rather than competing head-on with frontier labs or NVIDIA, our sweet spot in the UK is vertically specific models and market-leading products at the application layer. 

Specifically at Beam, we’re focused on frontline services and how we can contribute to rebuilding creaking welfare services for the AI era. Building tech for Government might seem niche. But I’d argue that every responsible citizen should care about their country having a robust GovTech sector.

There are plenty of figures showing the UK is not doing particularly well on AI adoption, but Beam’s success would suggest otherwise.

We're a pretty unique company! We've been around for almost a decade, starting out by delivering frontline services to help people experiencing homelessness get into jobs. We were the first to put frontline services onto smartphones before the pandemic because we realised it made them cheaper and more accessible. When the pandemic hit and everything went digital, we were deluged with referrals, and our own teams became overwhelmed.

That sparked an exciting idea: what if we harnessed AI to solve their biggest pain point - documentation? We built a tool to record meetings, with consent, and output reports. Suddenly, our caseworkers could stop typing and fully focus on the person in front of them. 

Give us a piece of advice that you would give to your teenage self.

It’s easy to fret about your choices, but there are so many wonderful ways your life can pan out. The main thing is to make the absolute most of the raw material life hands you. Tomorrow is a new day.

Wishing you all excellent weekends, back Monday.

Tom