The commitment follows a string of setbacks in the government's handling of the largest tech suppliers, especially in the provision of cloud services. In February 2024, The Register reported that officials from the from the Central Digital & Data Office admitted the government's approach to cloud adoption had resulted in: "risk concentration and vendor lock-in that inhibit UK government's negotiating power over the cloud vendors."
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee's second report into the UK's failure to retain and scale science and technology firms has described the government's visa policies for global talent as "counter-productive". With the Trump administration's $100,000 fee for high-skilled workers' H1-B visa, the committee has urged the government to 'roll out the red carpet' for talented scientists and entrepreneurs who want to come to the UK, rather than red tape.
Duffy also cites "maybe others" getting involved. This refers to a third option. In recent weeks, officials from traditional space companies have been telling Duffy and the chief of staff at the Department of Transportation, Pete Meachum, that they can build an Apollo Lunar Module-like lander within 30 months. Amit Kshatriya, NASA's associate administrator, favors this government-led approach, sources said.
Top talent, ambitious founders, and serious capital are flooding into a mission that matters, delivering products and solutions that will send us to the moon, deploy unimaginably capable unmanned aerial devices, and redefine what's possible in modern warfare. It's an exciting moment-one full of possibility and potential. But here's the problem: while everyone is focused on the moonshots, we're overlooking the foundation.
It's been well established in the first year of Trump's second presidency that AI is a priority for the administration. Even prior to Trump taking office, government generative AI use cases had surged, growing ninefold between 2023 and 2024. In recent months, agencies have cut numerous deals with most leading AI companies under the General Services Administration's Trump-driven OneGov contracting strategy.
The UK Home Office has upped its planned spending on external data and tech consultants by £100 million to a maximum of £350 million. The move follows a six-month delay to the start of a deal designed to provide external skills for the central government department's Data Services & Analytics (DSA) service. This comes despite the government's promise to cut spending on consultants and warnings that the shortage of internal skills was holding up digital transformation.
Not to be outdone by the makers of ChatGPT and Claude, who each agreed to sell their services to the government for $1 per agency, Google has agreed to even deeper discount terms, pitching its various government-capable AI products for just $0.47 per agency, valid through 2026. The half-a-buck Google AI deal is part of the General Services Administration's OneGov purchasing strategy that seeks to streamline the purchasing of products for federal agencies.
We are grateful for AWS's partnership as GSA continues to equip agencies with modern solutions at scale and at savings. Through this unique partnership, the federal government is poised to deliver on President Trump's AI Action Plan and solidify its position as the global AI leader.
