The Rundown: Edition 44 – Sovereign AI Fund, DeepMind, and Renters’ Rights

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The not-so-sovereign AI Fund

Labour’s £500m AI fund, which was set up to back home-grown technology, has awarded taxpayer-funded capital to a Silicon Valley-based startup. The Sovereign AI Fund will invest in Odyssey ML, a company developing “world models” that can understand the physical environment. Telegraph

UK borrowing at 28-year high

UK long-term borrowing costs have jumped to their highest point in nearly three decades, as investors prepare for political uncertainty following an expected weak performance by Labour in this week’s local elections. The yield on 30-year government bonds rose to 5.77%, marking its highest level since 1998. Times

Arm’s $2bn sales projection

Arm said strong demand for its new AI chip is expected to generate $2 billion in sales across 2027 and 2028. This marks the first indication that the British semiconductor company’s move into selling its own chips is paying off, even as its latest earnings report fell short of investor expectations. FT

DeepMind to unionise in the UK

Google DeepMind’s staff in the UK voted to unionise over concerns about AI being used in military and surveillance projects. Workers want ethical safeguards, including the right to refuse harmful work and more oversight of how AI is used. The move follows a new US military deal and Google dropping its earlier pledge not to build militarised AI. Guardian

British Business Bank’s £1m to tackle gender funding gap

The BBB has committed an initial £1 million to co-invest with Angel Academe. Its capital, alongside Angel Academe’s private investors and EIS fund, will back startups at Seed to Series A with at least one female founder. UKTN

Quantum Motion raises $160m Series A

London-based Quantum Motion, which is building quantum computers from standard silicon transistors, has announced a $160 million funding round co-led by DCVC and Kembara, with participation from ​the British Business Bank and Firgun. Reuters

Andreessen Horowitz backs Ethos in £16.7m Series A

Ethos, an AI platform that matches skilled professionals to income opportunities, has raised £16.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional investment from XTX, Evantic and General Catalyst. UKTN

Data provider Beauhurst raises £7m

Beauhurst, which provides in-depth intelligence on private companies in the UK and Germany, has raised £7 million in financing from Palatine’s Growth Credit Fund. It will use the funds to support expansion plans in Ireland, France, Spain, and Italy. Soapbox.vc

DeepSeek eyes $45bn valuation on “Big Fund” talks

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI developer, is in talks to raise its first external funds from the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, which is known as the “Big Fund”. It would value the business at $45 billion. FT

Time to give back to Gen Z

Baby Boomer Sir Nigel Wilson, Chair of Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), acknowledges that his generation has “had it easy” and says it’s “time to give back” to young people who face a “fundamental structural change” in education and the job market. Times Radio

An invisible battlefield in Europe

The electromagnetic spectrum has become Europe’s invisible battlefield, where drones, GPS, radar, and military communications are constantly jammed or disrupted. Dr Tanya Suarez, CEO of IoT Tribe and lead of the Janus accelerator, warns that Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed how vulnerable UK and European infrastructure is to drone incursions and signal attacks. LBC

Betting on the “boring” parts of AI

It takes four years for the best bets to look smart, according to Nicolas Sauvage, President and Founder of TDK Ventures. He’s keeping a close eye on physical AI, particularly robots with highly specific jobs, and on the shifting compute stack. TechCrunch

Which European startups will survive the AI revolution?

Among the investors sharing which startups they believe are “AI immune” and why is Edouard Chavassieu, Associate at InMotion Ventures. He believes Hades Mining and Flatpay are fortified against AI disruption. Sifted

Team takes second place

Steve Rigby, CEO of Rigby Group, prioritises the strength of a business model, focusing on high-quality companies with strong thematic potential. The team is a “secondary consideration”, as collaboration can lead to developing and growing the business. Corporate Financier Magazine

Cyber risk has sped up. A lot

AI has changed the nature of cyber risk much faster than most organisations are prepared for. Russell Brown, UK CEO of SCC, argues that the conversation must catch up, as it’s now about how quickly systems can be attacked and weaknesses can be exploited. UKTN The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into effect last week, and some believe this means there are “finally protections fit for the modern housing market” in England. This legislation is set to redefine the rental market for tenants and landlords alike. Speaking of renting, would you like SpaceX as your landlord? That’s what’s happening across the pond – for a near $1 trillion company, not the average person. Anthropic has struck a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to access computing power from its Colossus 1 data centre. We’re unsure of the renter’s rights afforded to Anthropic. Data centres are necessary to power AI, but the issue we’re currently facing is where to put them and how to do this safely and sustainably. There have been talks of putting data centres on the moon, and billionaire Peter Thiel, Co-founder and Chairman of Palantir, has just led a $140 million Series B into Panthalassa (a US-based planetary-scale energy platform) to offshore data centres powered by ocean waves. What’s going on slightly closer to home? Can Europe even compete with the US and China to close the AI gap? Well, Pure Data Centres and SEGRO have secured planning approval for a £1 billion hyperscale data centre in West London, and NorthC data centre, just outside of Amsterdam, is literally on fire. So, it’s anyone’s guess really how the continent is doing.

Something else that isn’t entirely clear is what lawyers will do in reaction to the rapid proliferation of AI in their industry. Last year, the number of UK-founded legaltechs increased by 17%. Indeed, the new era for legaltech has begun, driven in part by Microsoft’s Legal Agent for Word and Anthropic’s legal plug-in for Claude. What does this all actually mean? Apparently, there will be a great consolidation of legaltech, with potential buyers lining up for deals. However, some industry watchers predict “there won’t be a thorough thinning of the herd until founders worry venture capital will be shut off”. As for lawyers themselves, there’s now an alternative route to the once-coveted ‘make partner by 40’ track: work for one of the many legaltechs and take an equity stake in the business. After all, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. Right?