Update [20.07.26]: It was reported by the BBC last night that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has been merged into the Department for Business and Trade. Kanishka Narayan MP has been appointed AI Minister.

Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister today at a critical moment. Not only is it the UK’s seventh leader in a decade, but he has promised to shake the foundations and enact changes to reindustrialise the nation.

“Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again and that is our challenge: To make politics work better,” he said outside 10 Downing Street this afternoon. “We are not being good enough.”

He added that he seeks to make his appointment a “circuit-breaker” moment for the UK, promising a new political and economic model to “make politics more collaborative” and “build a new economy”.

Part of that promise includes setting out a 10-year plan for the country to set new goals and lay out a clear agenda. But will this include the technology sector?

Reports last week suggested that Burnham plans to scrap the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the department responsible for leading the UK’s AI strategy – a move that technology experts say could have a detrimental impact on the country’s bid for economic growth.

Burnham has reportedly asked officials to draw up plans to cut the department and make plans to hand technology policy over to a more powerful business department. According to The Guardian, overseeing AI use in the public sector could be the responsibility of a cabinet secretary rather than a minister.

Although not confirmed, the speculation is causing a stir – particularly as AI continues to boom across Europe, something which Burnham’s predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, was eager to invest in, having called AI “the defining opportunity of our generation”.

Many view the UK’s AI department as crucial to the country’s productivity, particularly when considering how the technology will be developed and deployed to support economic growth and defence.

“Incoming policymakers should take heed; artificial intelligence is the gorilla in the room and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” said Charlotte Wilson, head of enterprise at Check Point. “Any suggestion of redeployment or downsizing could send the wrong signal to businesses and cyber criminals about how seriously we take the most transformational technology in living memory.”

Many have reacted with alarm over the possible changes, suggesting that AI will dominate government policy decisions in the near future.

However, it has also been speculated that Burnham’s government will develop a new AI and technology strategy to prioritise British ownership, including UK-owned data centres, in addition to tech sovereignty and protecting UK workers from AI job cuts.

“AI has the potential to transform Britain’s economy, our public services, and our security for a generation,” commented Tim Flagg, CEO of trade association UKAI. “Rethinking which department oversees this industry does not necessarily mean Burnham’s Britain is turning its back on that potential. It could even signal an ambition to go further: AI elevated into a super-department or placed at the very heart of the Cabinet Office. The real danger isn’t the ambition; it’s the distraction and the delay.”

Burnham will spend this afternoon making significant appointments to his cabinet and will spend this week making policy announcements. These are anticipated to include a cost-of-living package and actions to lower housing, energy and transport prices.

His appointment comes as the country, like other parts of the world, is grappling with rising energy prices, crumbling infrastructure and struggling utility companies – all areas the new Prime Minister has promised to tackle.

It remains to be seen where the technology sector will sit under his roadmap.

Related stories

Check out our State of the Sector: Data Centres special report on energy

If you build here, is Britain really backing you? The new reality of data centre planning

UK’s ‘largest AI supercomputer’ by Nscale could be delayed… again