Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the development and scaling of artificial intelligence start-ups.

The UK has a flourishing AI start-up ecosystem, and as of early 2026, the UK is home to over 150 tech unicorns, ranking it 3rd globally for venture capital-backed innovation.

Our AI Opportunities Action Plan demonstrates how we are delivering a long-term strategy to ensure that the UK remains one of the best places in the world to start, scale and grow AI companies.

We have established the Sovereign AI Unit, backed by up to £500m, to back homegrown AI founders via investment in start-ups. We’re strengthening the UK’s scale-up finance ecosystem to help high-growth companies - including AI start-ups - start, scale and remain in the UK. This includes strengthening long-term capital through an expanded remit for the National Wealth Fund, increasing its capitalisation to £27.8 billion and scaling up the British Business Bank to £25.6 billion, as well as increasing annual investments by two-thirds to around £2.5 billion and committing £5 billion to growth-stage funds.