London Tech Week 2026: from sovereign AI to AI adoption

London’s 13th Tech Week has drawn to a close, bringing together technology and political leaders alongside scientists and investors from 130 countries. This year’s expo unfolded against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, alongside increasing competition for AI investment as governments and businesses come to terms with the technology’s true potential. Declarations of investment in the UK’s AI sector showed that it is on the right path, but the country must do more to ensure it is not left behind. This means creating fertile ground for innovation and foreign investment, as well as ensuring that British companies invest in AI and in upskilling their workers. Kanishka Narayan and Liz Kendall warn of AI dependency At Tech Week this year, UK government ministers drew attention to a much-discussed topic: sovereign AI, which is a nation or organisation’s capability to independently develop, deploy, and govern AI systems using its own infrastructure, data, workforce, and business networks. Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s AI minister, called for technology shaped by “the British public and British values.” Liz Kendall, the UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, warned that around 70% of global AI compute is controlled by just five companies. Governments are understandably hoping to reduce their dependency on foreign firms as they grow their AI capabilities. The British government is no different. Yet sovereignty in AI should not be confused with complete self-sufficiency; most countries, the UK included, have neither the funds nor the technology to achieve this. To build as much domestic capability as possible, the UK must commit significant public and private investment, while maintaining strong international partnerships. Rotem Farkash: “The UK has one of the world’s leading AI ecosystems” The UK is not short of international tech partnerships, and a number of foreign firms committed to invest huge sums in Britain at Tech Week. Lisa Su, CEO of American semiconductor giant AMD, pledged to ramp up investment in Britain to £2 billion over the next five years. The funding will support high-performance compute infrastructure in partnership with Cambridge University and direct investments into UK startups. Su also praised the engineering and entrepreneurship talent based in the UK, just as her cousin, CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang, did last year . Dutch AI infrastructure company Nebius also announced it will commit approximately £1.7 billion to build out AI capacity in the UK, with more infrastructure, customers and cloud capabilities for agentic and enterprise AI. Leading AI expert Rotem Farkash shared his thoughts on the conversation at Tech Week, saying that, “the UK has one of the world’s leading AI ecosystems. Strong research institutions and a vibrant startup scene have both brought it to where it is now.” Farkash added, “but to reach the next step will require innovation, and significant investment, including in skills that enable the British workforce to drive and adapt to this rapid change.” From AI ambition to the realities of adoption At the previous few editions of Tech Week, much of the conversation centred on how AI would change the economy and world. This is no longer the case, with 2026’s event focusing on how quickly countries, businesses and institutions can put it to work. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reflected this during his speech, outlining his vision for British growth built around technology and innovation, with a clear emphasis on ensuring AI works for everyone. An early preview of Deloitte’s latest AI Workforce Survey highlighted an important dynamic that is already emerging at the business and organisation level. In many cases, employees are adopting AI tools more quickly than formal processes and governance structures can adapt. Ensuring AI works for everyone will require significant investment, not in data centres or infrastructure, but in training and upskilling. The British government, alongside organisations big and small, needs to make AI training a priority, before the UK is left behind. No two London Tech Weeks are the same, and it is hard to know whether the same issues will dominate the agenda five years from now. As AI’s advanced capabilities become more apparent, control over the full “ stack ” is becoming a national priority for many countries. In a more uncertain world, where AI is guaranteed to play a part, the UK must ensure that it thrives alongside the technology. To achieve this, Britain must invest in AI infrastructure and training, while ensuring that the country is a hotbed of innovation. \ :::tip This story was distributed as a release by Jon Stojan under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. ::: \