The UK government has made economic growth its top priority. AI has been made central to this growth agenda, but while the UK boasts world-leading academic institutions, a growing ecosystem of AI startups, and globally recognised expertise in AI safety and governance, it cannot compete directly with the scale and self-sufficiency of AI superpowers like the US and China.
To secure its position in the global AI landscape, Demos’s recent report in partnership with Mozilla, The Open Dividend, calls for a national commitment to AI openness – through investment in public AI infrastructure, procurement of open-source tools, and greater transparency in proprietary technologies.
The report explores how AI openness can underpin the UK’s ambitions but also recognises the dual challenge: open-sourcing powerful AI models may enable misuse, while excessive regulation risks stifling economic potential and deterring talent. This policy briefing therefore sets out recommendations for the forthcoming UK AI Bill to strike the right balance – ensuring open-source AI development is well-regulated but not overburdened, enabling responsible innovation while safeguarding public and economic interests.