UK AI Minister Cuts AI Boost Estimate to £120 Billion as £400 Billion Claim Traced to Google Report
Updated
Updated · WIRED · Nov 4
UK AI Minister Cuts AI Boost Estimate to £120 Billion as £400 Billion Claim Traced to Google Report
2 articles · Updated · WIRED · Nov 4
Summary
£120 billion is now the UK government’s central estimate for AI’s economic benefit by 2030, with AI minister Kanishka Narayan saying the likely range is £55 billion to £140 billion.
The admission undercut a £400 billion figure ministers had cited for nearly two years; Narayan said that number came from a 2023 report commissioned by Google and produced by consultancy Public First, now PF Global.
Ministers had the lower estimate since at least November 2025, yet government bodies including Skills England were still publishing the older figure months later, and Narayan’s answer did not formally withdraw it.
PF Global said the gap reflects slower-than-expected AI adoption, while lawmakers and researchers including Dame Chi Onwurah and the Ada Lovelace Institute said the episode shows the risk of hype and industry-shaped evidence in policymaking.