Sovereign AI Fund
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will provide details of conditions attached to awards, including a) commitments regarding UK headquarters and office presence, b) commitments regarding UK-based hiring and job creation, c) commitments regarding UK tax residency and tax payments, d) commitments regarding the location of intellectual property and e) clawback provisions in the event of relocation and acquisition for each recipient of Sovereign AI funding.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Sovereign AI is designed to help the most promising UK AI companies start, scale and remain anchored in the UK. Before any equity investment is made, the Fund assesses a company’s current and future UK nexus, including domicile, headquarters and key executives, technical staff and R&D activity, and expected UK procurement, infrastructure and ecosystem contribution.
Equity investments are made as a minority co-investor, often in competitive rounds. Attaching anchoring conditions such as those mentioned would put Sovereign AI investments at a significant competitive disadvantage and weaken the Fund's ability to achieve its overall objective.
For non-equity support, UK anchoring is reflected in published eligibility and assessment criteria, including UK registration and requirements to demonstrate substantive R&D in the UK where applicable.
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