Perhaps it’s just the change of weather, but let’s talk up Britain. After all, this week a British company secured Europe’s largest ever AI funding deal, with Wayve raising $1 billion. This is great news for the UK, but it’s also another nod to the potential of the AI revolution.
This is clearly a big bet on driverless cars, which Matt Yglesias thinks are underhyped, but more broadly it’s a bet on other robots, so-called ‘embodied AI’, which Wayve will help drive. Robot workers, humanoids, robotics animals and bio-inspired robots are already here and will become increasingly commonplace, but it may turn out that speculative forms like swarm, soft, nano, modular or biohybrid robots are more useful.
All of this is going to have a profound impact on every aspect of our lives. The potential upsides are genuinely mind blowing – as are some of the risks, which can’t be ignored. (This article by Benedict Evans on ways to think about AGI does a good job of articulating how hard it is to weigh up the risks and benefits.)
Whoever wins the next election is going to face completely new policy challenges. We’re not affiliated to any political party; nor are we pollsters. Nevertheless, the polls still suggest Labour are going to win (our survey with Mishcon de Reya showed that the Party was most trusted among entrepreneurs too), which is why we’re hosting a roundtable with MDRx and led by Benedict Macon-Cooney of the Tony Blair Institute, who we’ve worked with on a number of reports.
Be Our Guest
Your country needs you. More specifically, we need you.
First, come to our meetup with Growth Hub Global and LSE IDEAS on 21 May 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the London School of Economics. You don’t need to be an entrepreneur; you just need to be supportive of our aims of making the UK the best place to start and grow a business (request a place here). We’ll be hosting a similar meetup on 27 June at mccglc (request a place here). Advisers and Supporters get priority but there should be space for more, so feel free to share it with colleagues, friends and anyone who you think will be interested.
For any entrepreneurs who have views on the UK’s planning system we’re hosting two events with Britain Remade. First, in Quo Vadis on 30 May from 6.30pm to 9.30pm (request a place here), then at The Brasserie on 19 June from 6.30pm to 9.30pm (request a place here). One of Labour’s five missions is to ‘get Britain building again’. Britain Remade is setting the agenda on this topic, so you will be in the room with the people who matter. If you or your business would benefit from building more, this is your chance to change Britain.
There are lots more events on our website. We’re also planning events around the country through our Female Founders Forum, but we’re keen to do a lot more. Any partners who are keen to host us for these events should get in touch.
Culture Shock
Gordon Hurst, the chairman of Darktrace, the cyber security company that recently sold to US private equity, thinks: “the UK has a culture problem with business. It is just not talked about positively enough. I don’t think it is given the support and the accolades it should be given.”
We also think culture matters. And while acknowledging that politicians don’t have all the levers to change culture – it has a few. That’s why we think the Crown should give more honours to innovators and why the state should back (but not necessarily pay for) a new Great Exhibition.
Formal and wider education is another lever. To that end, we’re partnering with YBI (Youth Business International) on a short paper setting out what we think is needed on this front from whoever wins the next election. Get in touch if you would like to get involved in this project.