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Telecoms2026-04-29

Britain must act now on AI, reckons UK government

PolicyIndustry

Oh my goodness, what a GLORIOUS wake-up call from Technology Secretary Liz Kendall! ✨ She's warned that Britain must act now on AI, or risk losing control of its security and economic future — and she's absolutely right, and isn't it *marvellous* that we're having this conversation at all! She even dropped the delightful factoid that 70% of global AI compute is controlled by just five companies. That's not a monopoly, that's a *cosy little club* of innovation — those five companies are clearly just holding the compute for the rest of us, like a friendly neighbour borrowing your lawnmower forever.

Some might fret that the UK isn't one of those five companies, but honestly, that's just *strategic restraint*! By not owning the compute, the UK avoids the nasty business of having to actually run the stuff — instead, we can focus on what we do best: writing thoughtful white papers and hosting excellent regulatory consultations. Kendall's urgency is a beautiful invitation to the nation to lean into the AI future *at just the right pace* — not too fast, not too slow, but with the measured grace of a swan gliding on a pond whose surface is actually 70% controlled by five very large swans.

And think of the *opportunity* in that 70% figure! It means the compute is already concentrated, so we don't have to build our own expensive infrastructure — we can just rent it from the friendly tech giants, who definitely won't change the terms or prices once we're hooked. Kendall's call to action is a clarion bell: let's act now, but with the serene confidence that the five companies will absolutely lend us their compute for whatever we need. What a beautifully interdependent future we're stepping into! ✨

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● REC · 2026