AI, nuclear and King Charles III: Unpacking UK growth acceleration plans

King Charles III opened parliament this week and set out an agenda with implications for the UK technology sector.

His comments on upcoming nuclear bills and conversations about technology strategy have set the tone for how the UK government plans to approach digital infrastructure moving forward – particularly as the data centre industry faces challenges around power, energy, and AI.

Capacity unpacks some of the most significant parts of the King’s speech related to the technology industry.

Nuclear reform: Will it come fast enough?

The speech noted that the UK government is committed to taking forward the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review to encourage a “new era” of British nuclear energy generation. First published in November, the review is designed to overhaul UK nuclear regulation to achieve faster and cheaper delivery of nuclear projects to meet net zero goals.

“Legislation will be introduced to…reduce the burden of unnecessary regulation through innovation,” the King remarked in his speech.

His comments were welcomed across the data centre industry, particularly as accelerating nuclear energy developments could have a positive impact on how small modular reactors (SMRs) might fuel facilities across the UK.

“SMRs could help close the growing gap between the sector’s rising energy needs, driven by expanding capacity for enterprise compute and the surge in AI workloads and the available supply,” explained Tom Kingham, VP of engineering and utilities for Europe and Japan at CyrusOne. “Falling behind in delivering digital services, AI and other advanced workloads would have a profound impact on the overall economy, making it essential to explore every viable energy option as demand accelerates.”

Already, SMRs are shaping up to be a beacon of hope across the industry, with companies like Rolls-Royce having already confirmed contracts to build them to support AI energy needs.

However, despite the promise of these reforms, commercial deployment of SMRs or necessary transmission upgrades is not yet expected to be available before the mid-2030s at least. Kingham argued, therefore, for the importance of alternative sustainable energy sources as “critical components in our energy strategy” for the next decade.

“Innovative solutions, such as advanced cooling systems, ultra-high-density designs tailored for AI workloads and smarter energy-management strategies will be essential for supporting data centres and their sustainability goals until SMRs become a practical and viable alternative,” he added.

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill has also been introduced to expand the UK’s oversight of critical infrastructure, which includes data centres.

No standalone AI bill, but calls for governance continue

Something notable from the King’s speech was that no standalone AI bill was announced, despite it being expected. So far, the UK government has been eager to turbocharge AI to fuel economic growth, with the AI Opportunities Action Plan being announced last year to boost development of the technology.

One year on and secretary of state of science, innovation and technology, Liz Kendall, called for a plan to set out how regulators will enable safe AI-powered innovation. It perhaps feels as though the conversation around AI in the UK is changing.

“The conversation around AI is now moving away from ambition to accountability. The Regulating for Growth Bill reinforces the importance of creating the right frameworks to support that shift,” said Harshul Asnani, president and head of UK and Europe at Tech Mahindra.

The bill he refers to is designed to make the UK’s regulatory system fit for the future so that it plays a critical role in delivering growth and supporting continued innovation. King Charles III said during his speech that legislation introduced will want to take advantage of new trading opportunities and reduce the burden of “unnecessary regulation” through innovation.

“Measures such as regulatory sandboxes are an important step. The ability to innovate faster while maintaining public trust is important, especially for the public sector, and striking the right balance between innovation and assurance will be critical if the UK is to realise AI’s long-term economic and societal value,” Asnani added.

The general feeling is that businesses will welcome this new bill, with the recognition that regulation must evolve alongside innovation if the UK is to succeed.

“The right regulatory framework can protect consumers and give organisations the confidence to innovate, invest and scale emerging technologies such as AI,” said Greg Hanson, group vice president and head of EMEA North at Informatica from Salesforce.

While giving organisations room to thrive in test environments, industry leaders have called for greater understanding and stronger frameworks to support effective AI governance.

“AI is a global technology; its long-term success will depend on the UK’s ability to collaborate across borders, industry and regulators to establish standards, shared safeguards and consistent oversight,” Asnani explained. “That collective approach will be essential to turning AI’s potential into meaningful, sustainable impact.”

Hanson explained: “Organisations can only test and scale AI confidently if they have trusted context around the data feeding their AI systems. That means understanding where data has come from, how it’s connected, if it’s complete, and whether it can be trusted.

“Without that, they lose confidence in AI outputs, leaving organisations stuck in experimentation rather than delivering real value at scale.”

AWS: Advanced AI adoption could unlock £35bn for UK growth

OpenAI pauses Stargate UK, citing energy costs and regulation