In a speech at IBM's London office, UK Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall warned that Britain must avoid becoming dependent on a handful of US tech giants in the coming AI future. She described artificial intelligence as the 'currency of the future', crucial for economic, scientific, and military advantages. Kendall emphasized that countries like Britain are at risk of relying on oligopolistic control over vital digital infrastructure.
Geopolitical Context
Rafael Behr, a Guardian columnist, notes that the current White House administration under Donald Trump does not prioritize alliances except on a protection racket model. The price is paid in sovereignty, with demands for using military bases, lowering taxes for cronies, and even ceding Greenland. This mercenary approach has been challenging for Britain, as the power imbalance grows with US technological dominance spurred by rivalry with China.
Kendall's Vision for Middle Powers
Kendall called for cooperation among 'middle powers'—democracies in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Oceania—to develop a resilient digital ecosystem not reliant on the 'powerful, unaccountable few'. This echoes Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's call for a strategic alliance of law-abiding, middle-ranking powers to counterbalance authoritarian behemoths.
Behr highlights that each step-change in AI heightens urgency. Even discounting hype, machines are becoming fiercely good at tasks that frighten politicians. For instance, Anthropic's latest Claude model, Mythos, is so efficient at finding flaws in computer code that it could be a cyber super-weapon. Anthropic restricted access to trusted users, though skeptics suggest it may be a marketing stunt.
Tech Ethics and National Security
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei appears more safety-conscious than peers, but tech-bro ethics are not a reliable regulatory system. OpenAI's Sam Altman is described as ruthlessly ambitious, while Palantir's Alex Karp published a manifesto rejecting pluralism, stating the company's mission is to serve US supremacy. Elon Musk's X platform and Grok chatbot have been linked to far-right propaganda.
Musk's Starlink has been vital for Ukraine, but UK ministers find the prospect of Musk controlling military intelligence in a European war 'terrifying'. Mitigating tech dependency is complex, as US companies remain essential investors, and Chinese-linked firms are unattractive. Brexit complicates matters, with tension between regulatory autonomy and alignment with the EU single market.
Challenges and Bubbles
Computing infrastructure is energy-intensive and water-thirsty, and datacentres employing few people face backlash. The current exuberance around AI investment resembles a bubble before it bursts, but that doesn't negate AI's transformative potential. Boom and bust cycles in railways and the internet didn't disprove their importance. AI will change global power dynamics, disadvantaging countries left behind.
Many driving AI change are driven by greed and millenarian fanaticism, viewing dissent as impurity and global governance as a conspiracy. Their tools could be more effective for political influence and economic coercion than Trump's current methods. Trump, though volatile and unreasonable, has simple appetites—money and status—and can be charmed. His ambition is contained within analogue power, but he could be the last president of whom that might be said.
