New UK PM Andy Burnham puts AI Britain into the Cabinet

Andy Burnham, Britain’s new Prime Minister, is steering a careful course between being the new face of hope for a tired nation, and frantically assuring his backers that nothing will change. But Burnham has slightly reshuffled AI Britain. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology is…

Andy Burnham, Britain’s new Prime Minister, is steering a careful course between being the new face of hope for a tired nation, and frantically assuring his backers that nothing will change. But Burnham has slightly reshuffled AI Britain. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology is being chopped up for parts: [FT, archive] It needs to be mainstreamed and there is the sense that DSIT has not been firing on all cylinders. Some of DSIT goes off to Business and Trade and some of it goes to Culture, Media and Sports, since those three are all the same thing in the UK. DSIT was founded in 2023 by the previous government to pump AI. It does other things that are science and technology, but it was founded for AI, and it pumped AI. DSIT was a place to deposit such leading lights as Peter Kyle, who bragged about how he did his job as minister using ChatGPT. The UK AI bros loved DSIT, because it ran the whole AI Britain scheme — to the considerable benefit of themselves. But they’re even happier now there’s suddenly a cabinet-level minister for AI. Burnham is fully on board with the Tony Blair Institute-written AI Britain plan. His spokesman told the Sunday Times: [Times, archive] Building the companies, the jobs and the industries that come with that. That’s exactly why the minister for AI belongs in cabinet. So who is the Minister for AI? It’s some guy. Kanishka Narayan, who was fresh from the 2024 election intake and is nobody in particular. What he was, though, was the the Junior Minister for AI and online safety at DSIT since September 2025. The stupid job and the really unpopular job. [Gov.UK, archive] How did this guy get elevated to cabinet? He’s not a Labour Right bruiser with a network of mates in the party backing him up. He was put there to make the AI bros happy. He is their guy: [Bloomberg, archive] The response to the restructure was mixed among UK entrepreneurs and investors, who worried about the dissolution of a department focused on their industry but heaped praise on Narayan, the junior minister for AI and online safety since late last year. Narayan won’t have his own department — there’s no Department for AI. Narayan’s job covers some Cabinet office and some of Business and Trade. What’s the Minister for AI Bros set to do? His plan of action is made of handwaving and zero specifics: [City AM] When British AI companies succeed in the areas where the UK has unique strengths, we build our country’s control and leverage, ensuring we are an indispensable partner in the global tech architecture. A chatbot could have written that. We heard the same style of rambling from the last government about blockchains. I am quite sure Narayan has no idea how any of this stuff works. But he sure does have good friends in the AI industry! Video — Podcast

Source: Pivot to AI — Published July 21, 2026 at 22:29 UTC — Category: Business