Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

ARM, a chip designer owned by SoftBank, is expected to go public on Nasdaq later this year, tarnishing London's image as the capital of investment. However, in the face of a new boom in the technology industry, the UK hopes to seize the huge business opportunity of generative AI and become a "technology superpower" by formulating its own financing and regulatory rules, so as to get rid of the shadow of Silicon Valley.

The UK technology industry has had a rough start to the year: venture capital has almost disappeared; companies have cut jobs and tightened their belts; and the collapse of the UK subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank has shocked start-ups.

As Britain's two largest technology companies, takeout platform Deliveroo and financial technology company Revolut have accused British regulators of stifling innovation, while ARM, the apple of the British technology industry, decided to list in the US, further damaging London's image as the "capital of investment".

When Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to make Britain a technology superpower by the end of the century, British executives looked unconfident because the government's financial support was stretched.

According to Sunak's plan, Britain will invest 1 billion pounds (8.987 billion yuan) to support domestic semiconductor research and development; the funds of the United States and the European Union have reached 50 billion US dollars (357.55 billion yuan) and 43 billion euros (332 billion yuan) respectively.

Nigel Toon, chief executive of Graphcore, a British chip start-up, warned that the negligible investment would soon be swallowed up by overseas giants.

There has been a marked decline in the flow of money into UK technology start-ups, according to multiple data. The UK and Ireland accounted for more than 34 per cent of all European and Israeli-related deals in 2018, while that number fell to less than 28 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to Pitchbook, a research firm. During this period, the share of France, southern and northern Europe all increased.

There is also no shortage of experienced London investors who remain optimistic. They believe the UK has an opportunity to capture the next wave of the technology industry and compete with the US and the EU by setting its own financing and regulatory rules.

Saul Klein, co-founder and managing partner of venture capital firm LocalGlobe LLP, said: "now is the time for us to come out of the shadow of Silicon Valley."

Klein's enthusiasm stems from two things. In March, HSBC quickly took over the failed UK subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank, transforming the UK's leading start-up lender from a relatively isolated and adventurous regional bank into a mature global financial institution.

Klein believes the UK will be more flexible after Brexit. "the UK has its own regulatory environment and can create sandboxie for innovation," he said. "

In addition, Google has put its AI research division under the leadership of DeepMind, which is based in London.

This means that Google has put its strategic focus, the world's leading AI--, in the hands of the British. Klein and other technical experts believe that the world is flocking to AI, which is the best chance for Britain to become a scientific and technological superpower and avoid a serious retrogression.

In the hot field of generative AI, there are many new unicorns such as Stability AI and Synthesia in London. Google owns Isomorphic Labs, an AI drug development company, just a block from the Francis Crick Institute (Francis Crick Institute), a leading biomedical centre in north London.

University College London (UCL) has created a £120 million (1.078 billion yuan) technology fund that focuses on turning AI research into a business service and invests in 30 start-ups. So far this year, investors have invested more in UK AI start-ups than in fintech companies for the first time since 2011, according to research firm DealRoom.

"when you realize that AI is not just an AI technology, but can land in finance, education and many other fields, you have an incentive to seize the opportunity and make it happen," Klein said. "

The current technology boom is attracting scientists from large institutions in the UK. Sasha Haco, chief executive of Unitary, a London-based AI company, said she had been overwhelmed by cover letters from engineers from academia or large technology companies who wanted to join the AI wave. "that wasn't the case a year ago," Haco said.

Another opportunity depends on regulation. In May, British Prime Minister Sunak met with executives from DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic. Anthropic is a California-based AI company that recently opened an office in London. Mr Sunak then issued a statement saying that the UK was "an international leader" in the proper regulation of AI.

Sunak also paid a two-day visit to Washington to win President Joe Biden's support for his AI ambitions. Earlier this month, the UK also announced that it would host a global summit on AI security later this year.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.