Who is Liz Kendall?: Liz Kendall is the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, appointed in July 2024. She is Labour MP for Leicester West since 2010 and leads the UK's Sovereign AI Fund, AI and Future of Work Unit, and industrial AI strategy.Source: UK Government
What did Liz Kendall say about the UK Sovereign AI Fund?: Launching the fund on 16 April 2026, Kendall said AI was non-negotiable for national security and that the investment committee would operate free from political interference.Source: UK DSIT speech 16 April 2026
What department does Liz Kendall run?: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), covering AI strategy, digital infrastructure, and the AI Safety Institute.Source: UK Government
What is Liz Kendall's role in UK AI policy?: As SoS for DSIT, Kendall oversees the £500m Sovereign AI Fund, the AI Safety Institute, and the government's AI Growth Zones programme. She co-hosted the TechFirst AI skills launch in May 2026.Source: Lowdown uk-startups-and-innovation U#4
What did Liz Kendall announce for the UK AI sector in May 2026?: In May 2026, Kendall launched the AI and Future of Work Unit, co-funded a £36m DAWN supercomputer expansion, published SAIU grant criteria with a 5 June deadline, and previewed the AI Hardware Plan for London Tech Week.Source: Lowdown uk-startups-and-innovation U#5
What is the AI and Future of Work Unit that Liz Kendall launched?: Announced on 18 May 2026 at the IFOW conference, it is a cross-government body spanning DSIT, DWP, DfE, BEIS, and HM Treasury. Target: 10 million people upskilled in AI by 2030, 2 million inside SMEs, with free course access.Source: DSIT / IFOW conference, 18 May 2026
What did Liz Kendall say about AI and jobs?: At the IFOW conference on 18 May 2026, Kendall said the UK would not be a bystander to AI-driven labour market disruption, and announced a 10 million upskilling target by 2030 backed by a new cross-government unit.Source: DSIT / IFOW conference, 18 May 2026

Background

Liz Kendall launched the UK Sovereign AI Fund on 16 April 2026, telling an audience that AI was 'non-negotiable for our national security' and that the independent investment committee would operate free from political interference . She framed the £500m fund — chaired by Balderton Capital's James Wise with Josephine Kant as Head of Ventures — as the UK betting on its own AI ecosystem rather than ceding the model layer to US providers.

Kendall entered Parliament as MP for Leicester West in 2010 and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions before Labour's 2024 general election victory. She was appointed Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in July 2024, taking over a department responsible for the AI Safety Institute, spectrum regulation, space policy, and now the Sovereign AI programme. Her REMIT spans industrial AI strategy, digital infrastructure, and UK alignment on international AI governance.

On 18 May 2026, Kendall appeared at the Institute for the Future of Work conference to announce the AI and Future of Work Unit — a cross-government body spanning DSIT, DWP, DfE, BEIS, and HM Treasury, targeting 10 million people upskilled in AI by 2030 with 2 million inside SMEs and free course access. The framing was explicit: the UK would not be a 'bystander' to AI-driven labour market disruption. That same week, Kendall's DSIT co-funded a £36m expansion of the DAWN supercomputer at Cambridge, flagged the AI Hardware Plan for London Tech Week (9-12 June), and published open eligibility criteria for the Sovereign AI Unit's Strategic Assets Grants Programme. Across May 2026, Kendall is the single most active individual in UK AI policy, spanning compute infrastructure, social policy, and industrial investment in the same fortnight.