OpenAI and the UK Government have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and deliver on the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, supporting the country’s ambition to harness AI for economic growth and shared prosperity.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle MP, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (opens in a new window) (MOU) focused on unlocking the economic and societal benefits of AI. The MOU will include collaboration to explore adoption across both public services and the private sector, infrastructure development and technical information exchange to drive AI-fueled growth in the UK.
OpenAI’s technology has become essential for millions of Brits. The UK is a top three market globally for paid subscribers and API developers, and every day, people, developers, institutions, start-ups and leading British enterprises are unlocking economic opportunities with our technology—from Natwest and Virgin Atlantic to home-grown unicorn Synthesia and renowned institutions such as Oxford University.
UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said, “AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country—whether that’s in fixing the NHS, breaking down barriers to opportunity, or driving economic growth. That’s why we need to make sure Britain is front and center when it comes to developing and deploying AI, so we can make sure it works for us.
“This can’t be achieved without companies like OpenAI, who are driving this revolution forward internationally. This partnership will see more of their work taking place in the UK, creating high-paid tech jobs, driving investment in infrastructure, and crucially giving our country agency over how this world-changing technology moves forward.”
Sam Altman said, “AI is a core technology for nation building that will transform economies and deliver growth. Britain has a strong legacy of scientific leadership, and its Government was one of the first to recognize the potential of AI through its AI Opportunities Action Plan. Now, it’s time to deliver on the plan’s goals by turning ambition to action and delivering prosperity for all.”
The MOU partnership builds on the shared vision by the UK Government and OpenAI to leverage the UK’s strengths in science, innovation and talent to maintain a world-leading UK AI ecosystem rooted in democratic values. It includes non-binding commitments to explore:
- How advanced AI models can be deployed throughout government and the private sector to help civil servants work more efficiently and to support small businesses and citizens to navigate public services more effectively.
- Potential routes to deliver the infrastructure priorities laid out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, recognizing the importance of UK sovereign capability in achieving the economic benefits of AI.
- Expanding the existing partnership between OpenAI and the UK AI Security Institute to include the development of a new technical information sharing program, partnering to deepen knowledge across government around model capabilities, and exploring security research collaborations.
Alongside the partnership agreement with the UK Government, OpenAI confirmed its intention to increase its footprint in the UK. OpenAI’s first international office was opened in London in 2023. The team has since grown to over 100 staff in roles including research and engineering—contributing to the development of OpenAI’s frontier models—and go-to-market functions to support UK businesses, developers and start-ups in applying AI tools to drive growth. OpenAI will share more details on its expansion in the summer.
The UK Government has already built an AI chatbot using our API that allows thousands of small businesses to more easily get advice from GOV.UK information on business rules and support.
OpenAI technology also underpins multiple tools in ‘Humphrey,’ Whitehall’s AI assistant that aims to speed up the civil service by relieving administrative burden, and is used in ‘Consult,’ the bespoke tool that speeds up the policy-making process by automatically sorting public responses to consultations—completing a task that takes officials weeks in minutes, while leaving important decisions to experts.
