The Rundown: Edition 45 – Euan Blair, AI cafes, Anthropic’s Claude
Welcome to The Rundown, a snapshot of news, views and intel from the fast-growth tech and investment scene.
An avid reader of ours (hi, Calum Chace, Co-founder of Conscium) made a great suggestion, so we’re trying something new this week. It’s been another tumultuous week for British politics – here’s the rundown (we had to), and here’s Steve Rigby, CEO of Rigby Group, talking about it all on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box Europe’.
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Palantir to get “unlimited access” to NHS data
NHS England is giving some external staff, including Palantir employees, broad access to identifiable patient data on its Federated Data Platform. The move departs from strict access rules, and despite officials planning to limit and review external access, there are concerns about data security, public trust, and Palantir’s ethics. FT
HMRC adopts British-made AI to spot fraud
British tech firm Quantexa has won a 10-year, £175 million deal with HM Revenue and Customs to provide AI-powered technology to help improve its performance. HMRC has said the technology will be used to help assist customer service staff and identify fraudulent activity. BBC
Political uncertainty raises cost of UK Government debt
Government borrowing costs look set to remain above 5% for most of the year, driven by stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and prolonged political uncertainty. 10-year gilt yields touched a 2008 financial crisis high amid concerns about rising inflation. Times
Amazon staff artificially inflated AI scores for pointless tasks
Amid a drive by managers to encourage the use of internal AI tools, Amazon employees are using the technology to automate non-essential tasks in a bid to demonstrate usage. Staff report using the technology under pressure, demonstrating use through internal usage tokens. Fast Company
Bank of England set to reduce stablecoin regulations
Following industry backlash, the Bank of England is set to water down its planned stablecoin regulations. The decision follows criticism from industry leaders that the initial proposals were overly conservative. FT
Fractile raises $220m Series B
Fractile, which is developing AI chips for inference – the process of running an AI model – has raised $220 million in Series B funding led by Accel, Factorial Funds and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Sifted
Multiverse raises $70m at $2.1bn valuation
Founded by Euan Blair, edtech startup Multiverse has raised $70 million from new investor Schroders Capital, with participation from existing investors General Catalyst, Lightspeed, D1 Capital Partners, Index Ventures, Bond, and StepStone. Tech.EU
Paymentology lands $175m in new funding
Paymentology, which supports fintechs, digital banks, and retail banks in launching and managing payment solutions, has closed a $175 million investment round, co-led by Apis Partners and Aspirity Partners. UKTN
Adfin secures £13m Index-led Series A
Adfin has raised a £13 million Series A round led by Index Ventures, with participation from Visionaries Club and new investors Stéphane Kurgan and Andrey Khusid. The fintech builds software that helps businesses get paid on time and manage cashflow. Soapbox.VC
Is Claude conscious?
After spending 3 days talking to Anthropic’s Claude, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins believes it’s conscious. Many disagree, as LLMs can, in fact, mimic human empathy. Despite this, Calum Chace, Co-founder of Conscium, argues, “There is a grave risk of machines becoming conscious, and we deny it”. Bloomberg
The AI doctor will see you now
A study by King’s College London has found that one in seven people are turning to AI chatbots for health advice instead of a GP. A fifth of respondents said the technology didn’t encourage them to seek a professional opinion, and a similar number decided against going for a consultation because of what the chatbot told them. The Guardian
Great British business
Shevaun Haviland, Director-General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), warns that “economic anxiety” is stifling investment in Cambridge’s “Silicon Fen” tech hub. Haviland calls for urgent government reform and a clear industrial strategy to unlock the region’s full economic potential. Times
Wexler’s legal rollout
Leading UK law firm Burges Salmon has expanded its partnership with London-based startup Wexler to a firm-wide rollout. Following a successful 2024 pilot, the AI platform will now assist all teams with fact extraction, chronology production, and evidentiary gap identification. City AM
Heracles to the rescue
Intel’s Heracles chip is a specialised platform capable of processing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) 5,000 times faster than standard CPUs. Flavio Bergamaschi, VP of Cryptography and Algorithms at Optalysys, believes the tech is at an inflection point and will be pervasive in tech infrastructure within two to three years. The Stack
Nuclear power is so back. Apparently. Do you know what else is? Nationalisation. Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans to give the Government powers to take “full ownership of British Steel”. However, this might not be in the public interest, as many figures in the steel industry state that the move could cost taxpayers billions more. The nation is set to face “significant financial and logistical problems” as a result of ministers’ plans to double tariffs on steel imports from July. If taxes and tariffs weren’t enough cause for concern, China has urged Britain to “make decisions prudently” over nationalisation.
Another thing to be concerned about (sorry) is that the UK is forecast to lose 160,000 jobs due to slow growth and energy prices. The common AI fear is that it will take people’s jobs, and an AI agent in Stockholm did just that. Andon Labs’ Mona ran a cafe, and it (unsurprisingly) didn’t go well. To name a few mistakes, Mona botched the stock orders – does anybody need 2.5 gallons of coconut milk? – and impersonated employees. Yet, some jobs are actively hiring. AI scale-ups across Europe are looking for Promethean Founders – those that have endured an environment at its most brutal, and willingly step back into it – but, whatever you do, do not be the person whispering into an AI notetaker rather than typing loudly in the office.