Appointment as Chair of the Sovereign AI Unit
Following the announcement from the Secretary of State for DSIT today, I am excited to start as the Chair of the Government's new Sovereign AI Unit. This is a new type of initiative - one which aims to be the first choice for founders building essential parts of the UK’s AI infrastructure, growing our economy. One which uses the awesome power of the British state to help scale our AI breakthroughs. And one which aims to make a meaningful return for the British taxpayer. I look forward to working with the team to build and launch this initiative in the coming months to make this critical technology work for all of us in Britain.
It will not change my role at Balderton, although any possible conflicts will be published well in advance on the Department's website.
We will be working hard to establish this unit in the coming months. Please follow via DSIT's website for further updates.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Liz Kendall said:
“We are ambitious for our country and believe Britain’s best days lie ahead. Today we’re announcing a package of measures that ensure we seize the opportunities to get jobs and growth in every part of the country.
“The backing by international investors today is a vote of confidence in the UK – and we’re determined to do even more to ensure we are backing British businesses, workers and researchers to benefit from the opportunities AI brings. This is about bringing jobs, opportunities and hope to the people and places that need it most, delivering on our promise of change.”
About me from the release:
James Wise is a venture capitalist with over 15 years of experience supporting British technology successes. He is a long-standing partner at Balderton Capital, a £5B fund based in the UK and behind leading start-ups such as Revolut, Darktrace, Wayve, GoCardless and Depop. He has led on the many of the funds' recent investments in A.I and energy, and has supported companies scale from their first day to IPO. Over the last few years he has worked closely with NVIDIA, OpenAI and other global AI labs to provide support to British & European AI businesses. Aside from his work in venture, James was appointed to the UK’s Industrial Development Advisory Board in 2022, was a trustee of the educational charity Dot.Everyone and he serves on the board of a charitable education endowment.