Correspondence

AI sovereignty: preserving UK agency in an AI-enabled world

This letter provides advice to the Minister for AI on how the UK can build capability to make strategic choices about current and future AI technology.

• From: Council for Science and Technology
• Published: 19 October 2026

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In July 2026, the Council for Science and Technology (CST) wrote to the Minister for AI with advice to help the UK achieve AI sovereignty. CST defines AI sovereignty as having sufficient agency across the AI value chain to deliver the UK’s chosen outcomes, capture economic and public value for the UK, and maintain resilience under duress.

CST made 4 recommendations to government:

• develop a UK AI Sovereignty Plan based on a clear overview of the AI ecosystem
• set up clear governance and coordination for AI sovereignty choices
• invest now in the foundations of long-term domestic AI capability, including skills, data and public trust
• maintain trusted access to leading AI models while building selected UK capability