The Rundown: Edition 33 – Anthropic, Skyrora, and Live Facial Recognition
Alphabet sells rare 100-year bond
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has lined up banks to sell a 100-year bond to fund further investments in AI this year. 100-year bonds are extremely rare in the tech sector, although IBM did sell one in 1996. FT
Industry body slams Bank of England’s stablecoin proposal
The Bank of England’s proposal to introduce a stablecoin has been branded too cautious by Payments Association boss Riccardo Tordera-Ricchi. The BoE wants to set a personal holding limit of £20,000 for individuals and £10m for businesses, which the industry body considers overly limiting. UKTN
GDP growth remains sluggish in Q4 2025
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said there remains “more to do” following GDP growth of just 0.1% in Q4 of 2025, according to ONS statistics. The economy is estimated to have grown by 1.3% for the whole of 2025, lower than the 1.4% forecast by the Bank of England. BBC
Apple and Google sign up to measures with UK regulator
Apple and Google have agreed to a series of measures aimed at improving the “certainty, transparency and fairness” of their app stores. The agreement with the Competition and Markets Authority followed claims that the firms were giving “preferential treatment” to their own apps. Times
Anthropic raises $30bn on road to IPO
Anthropic has confirmed a new $30 billion funding round with investment from backers including GIC, Coatue, Founders Fund and Nvidia. The round gives Anthropic, which has said it plans to float as early as next year, an enterprise value of $350 billion. FT
AI audience platform Electric Twin raises $14m
Electric Twin, which develops tools to help organisations better understand their audiences, has raised a $10m round led by Atomico, with participation from LocalGlobe, Mercuri and Samos Investments, taking total investment to $14m. Tech.EU
London fintech Bracket raises $7m Seed Round
Bracket, a financial management platform designed for mid-market businesses, has raised $7 million in a Seed round led by Macquarie Group and Blackfinch Ventures, with participation from Failup Ventures. UKTN
Orthofuse secures £2.2m to improve safety in orthopaedic surgery
Orthofuse, a medtech business developing safer and more efficient surgical procedures, has raised a £2.2 million Seed round with investment from ACF investors, Cambridge Angels and Empirical Ventures. Startups Magazine
The end of GDP?
António Guterres, UN Secretary General, warns that we must “move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster”. He believes an “urgent overhaul of the world’s existing accounting systems” is paramount to secure the future of humanity. Rather than focusing on gross domestic product, we should measure things that “really matter” to people and their communities. The Guardian
We need to help shape AI – or it will shape us
It’s clear that AI is and will continue to change the British economy, so Steve Rigby, CEO of Rigby Group, poses a different question: will we help to shape AI? According to him, there is ample opportunity for the UK to become a significant player on the world stage, and there are many reasons to be optimistic. Times
How to create more venture-backed scaleup success
VenturePath’s latest report, ‘The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission’, aims to accelerate the development of British startups into scaleups by improving access to growth funding and venture capital. This will require collaboration across founders, investors, ecosystem partners and government. VenturePath
Leather manufacturing is at a crossroads
Traditional leather production is facing huge environmental and sustainability pressures, and bio-based materials represent a major untapped commercial opportunity for tanneries. Stephanie Downs, CEO and Co-founder of UNCAGED Innovations, discusses how embracing these bio-based approaches could unlock significant new revenue streams in the leather manufacturing sector. The Manufacturer
AI’s impact on data privacy
AI increasingly depends on vast amounts of personal or sensitive data, raising stakes for privacy and compliance. Joseph Wilson, Head of Strategic Innovation at Optalysys, lists “loss of control over personal information, reputational damage and financial loss” as some of the privacy risks AI can cause. SC Media
Picture this: it’s a Friday night, you’re reading The Rundown from the comfort of your sofa, and would quite like a takeaway. So, naturally, you fire up the Just Eat app, and 20-30 minutes later, there’s a robot at your door. Holding your food, of course. This is not beyond the realms of imagination for those in Milton Keynes, as Just Eat has just launched a robo-dog delivery trial there. The trial comes months after it was rolled out in Zurich, where the city saw the dogs equipped with Physical AI run up stairs, and avoid pedestrians and obstacles. It appears Ahti Heinla, Co-founder of Skype, was right when he said that “delivery robots will happen”.
Another picture: you’re entering a train station and realise you’re in a ‘recognition zone’. What do you do? Do you stay or do you go? The British Transport Police has become the latest law enforcement organisation in the UK to utilise Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology. See it. Say it. Sorted? Not quite. In January, the High Court told police that LFR needs limits, and campaigners argued that police use of the tech must be tightly controlled, or Londoners will find it “impossible” to travel without being scanned. While there is great disparity amongst age, race, education groups, and sexuality, in support (or lack thereof) for LFR, human rights groups such as Big Brother Watch are vehemently opposed. LFR was discussed in The Rundown Edition 18, yet the issues raised have not been addressed. The technology doesn’t recognise people with facial differences and disfigurements, and does not accurately recognise people of colour, women and non-binary people. Certainly one to watch as the rollout of LFR becomes more widespread.