Artificial Intelligence: UK Preparedness

Lord Walney Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My noble friend is spot-on. Small and medium-sized enterprises are vital to AI-driven growth. The Government are supporting SMEs through targeted innovation funding and access to test-based and digital adoption programmes, alongside partnerships with research institutions. By lowering barriers to experimentation, we enable smaller firms to enhance productivity and compete more effectively. This ensures that the economic benefits of AI are shared right across the United Kingdom, fostering a diverse and resilient digital economy throughout the United Kingdom.

[Lord Walney (CB)]

My Lords, with that in mind, will the Government think very carefully about regulating social media, as is a big concern for the Government and the House at the moment? Will they acknowledge the danger of setting up a system which could lock out innovation from precisely those smaller companies in favour of the giants in the States which can find their way through the regulatory system and get the exemptions that are being talked about in this House?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Lord highlights a couple of issues. I mentioned earlier that we are investing to develop our own sovereign AI capability. We are setting up investment zones across the country, working with UK-based companies to scale up. As the noble Lord will know, AI has different stacks—the infrastructure layer, the data layer and the model layer. We must work with each level and steer the course between extremes. We must ensure that AI becomes an engine of national renewal, rather than the author of our own demise.