Kuwait Could Leave the UK Trailing in the Digital Technology Stakes
The United Kingdom’s technology sector has attracted significant investment from major companies such as Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Salesforce and Palantir.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle believes the investments are a game-changer for the economy, delivering thousands of jobs and strengthening the UK's global position.
However, detractors have warned that the UK is overly dependent on foreign tech power, and its sovereignty over data, infrastructure and regulation is eroding rapidly.
The Limits of British Control
The numbers the UK has attracted are remarkable. Google pledged £5 billion to expand its research, development and engineering capacity.
Meanwhile, Palantir will put £1.5bn into defence technology. Microsoft, CoreWeave and Salesforce have invested a combined £22bn into reinforcing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
While this seems to be a massive vote of confidence in the UK's technology sector, the Ada Lovelace Institute’s Gaia Marcus believes their digital sovereignty is being eroded.
NTT Data's Warren O'Driscoll claims sovereignty is almost impossible under United States law. Under the CLOUD Act, Washington can access data from American firms anywhere in the world.
More worryingly, a survey from Civo showed that 83 percent of UK IT leaders are concerned about sovereignty risks. Many do not know where their company's data legally resides.
Could the UK Be Left Behind by Unlikely Rivals?
To make matters worse, countries that were previously outsiders are now serious players in the digital space. Kuwait is an excellent example.
It was once considered an underachiever in the Gulf's tech industry. However, the Middle Eastern nation has powered forward with ambitious plans to embed AI in government, finance, energy and education by 2028.
The UK has been embroiled in debates over sovereignty and procurement scandals, while being overly reliant on hyperscalers. But Kuwait has been moving quickly and purposefully.
Kuwait's ministries have signed partnership deals with Microsoft and Google Cloud to modernise finance, infrastructure and cybersecurity.
The country even launched its own AI Ethics Evaluator. This tool will help ensure human rights compliance in new tech, something the UK cannot boast.
Elsewhere, the National Leadership Institute is poised to bring government, business and academia together to design AI regulations with ethics, training and inclusion as core tenets.
Kuwait could use AI to support a licensed and regulated online gambling sector. Arab players can already visit an online casino in Kuwait, but the operator is regulated by authorities in other jurisdictions. The Kuwaiti government misses out on the tax revenue generated.
AI has been used by other nations to support regulated gambling, and Kuwait could head down the same path over the next few years.
A Sovereignty Problem Built at Home
After years of underperforming in health, transport and defence, it is unrealistic to believe the UK could build its own indigenous AI infrastructure.
This dependency is practically a constant in the UK. Since the 1980s, the UK has been outsourcing key public services to contractors, and many of them are owned by foreign companies.
The same is true in the digital scene, where NHS data platforms and Ministry of Defence cloud services usually go to American firms.
Former head of the Government Digital Service Mike Bracken called it ‘treasury brain’ - the belief that they can solve every problem via procurement.
They could have built open platforms such as Notify, giving the government complete control over citizens' details. However, UK ministers outsourced, even though it undermines sovereignty.
Palantir's NHS data contrast is the latest hot topic, raising more alarms about transparency and the long-term safety of patient data.
Owning the Digital Stack
The UK could take a different approach by setting open standards, building competitive ecosystems and backing homegrown champions in sensitive sectors.
France and Germany do this with companies such as Mistral AI and Helsing. Even when US hyperscalers step in, they must do so on European terms.
The UK has allowed its crown jewels in AI and chip design, DeepMind and Arm, to slip into foreign hands. Its reliance on American firms is getting even worse, while rivals are building their own sovereign spaces.
There is a genuine fear that the UK will regret this dependency. One US executive order under this increasingly erratic American government could change the UK's access to key tech.
The UK has promised a £500 million Sovereign AI Unit, but ministers must prioritise sovereignty or risk falling behind its global rivals.
