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Council for Science and Technology advises on UK AI sovereignty

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Source: GOV.UK

The Council for Science and Technology (CST), the government’s independent advisory body on science and technology, published on 19 October 2026 a letter it sent to the Minister for AI in July 2026 with advice on AI sovereignty. CST defines AI sovereignty as having sufficient agency across the AI value chain to deliver the UK’s chosen outcomes, capture economic and public value for the UK and maintain resilience under duress. Its four recommendations are a UK AI Sovereignty Plan built on a map of computing power, data, skills, models, governance and public adoption; a single accountable owner for sovereignty choices, such as the head of the Cabinet Office AI Taskforce; investment in skills, data and computing research, with access arrangements tested on at least two sets of national data such as health and creative data; and continued access to leading global models while the UK builds selected capability of its own, with some national AI computing capacity set aside for trials of open-weight and domestic models. The letter is signed by the co-chairs, Dame Angela McLean and Lord Browne of Madingley, and copied to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and other ministers and senior officials.

Why it matters

CST asks government to decide which AI capabilities the UK should own, share or buy in, and to consider the Alan Turing Institute’s proposal for a public-interest sovereign base model.

When
19 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0323
Who
Council for Science and Technology, Alan Turing Institute; Angela McLean, Lord Browne of Madingley

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from GOV.UK. Checked against the source on 19 Oct 2026.

Read the original at GOV.UK

Source copy: download the page as saved on 19 Oct 2026 (PDF). Document the source offers: document 1 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0323: “Council for Science and Technology advises on UK AI sovereignty.” wheresthe.ai, 19 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/gb-council-for-science-and-technology-advises-on-uk-ai-sover-2026-10/ (source: GOV.UK).

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