Comment by Baroness Uddin

Do the Government regard strengthening sovereign AI capability as a strategic national priority? Do they consider the stewardship of strategically important data sets under UK sovereign control to be critical to national resilience and security, given the increasing role of global technology companies in managing public infrastructures and sensitive public sector data—including in the NHS and HMRC—in partnership with companies such as Apple, Google and Palantir? They may bring expertise and innovation, but what safeguards exist to ensure that the UK’s most valuable public data assets remain subject to British law and sovereignty, ultimately in the interests of British citizens?