London Tech Week 2026 being held from 8 to 10 June 2026, yesterday became the setting for more detail on the UK government’s major announcements spanning government investment, workforce transformation and justice reform.
There was also an announcement from Homewards, Prince William’s homelessness programme, on the UK’s first Homelessness Data Lab to improve how data and technology are used in prevention.
Key announcements at a glance:
• £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan – backing British chip firms, a new national supercomputer, and £45 million for skills and doctoral training (DSIT)
• £200 million AI Adoption package – helping businesses adopt AI and equipping workers with skills to benefit from it (DSIT)
• AI in the justice system – AI legal assistants, new listing tools for judges, and Justice Transcribe saving 18,750 days of probation officer time annually (Ministry of Justice) – see comments and reaction from the Law Society for England and Wales below
• UK’s first Homelessness Data Lab – launched by Homewards with Salesforce and LandAid to use data and technology to prevent homelessness (Royal Foundation / Homewards)
Investing in the foundations: £1.1 billion for British AI hardware
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall unveiled a £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan, setting out how the government will back British companies developing the chips and semiconductor technologies behind AI, while also investing in the scientists, engineers and technicians needed to turn new ideas into products and jobs in the UK.
The plan includes £750 million for a new national AI supercomputer, set to be one of the most advanced in the world when deployed in 2030. This was announced alongside £120 million for a new AI Hardware Innovation Programme to help British companies design, develop and test novel chips. The Secretary of State highlighted £150 million of the supercomputer budget will be used to purchase next-generation inference chips this summer, creating an immediate commercial opportunity for British firms.
The investment is explicitly linked to people, with a £45 million investment in new skills support that will back doctoral training and undergraduate bursaries to train more engineers, chip designers and technicians, opening clear pathways into the sector. A new strategic partnership with Arm will align industry expertise with the UK’s skills pipeline, while Silicon Valley investors Playground Global – backed by up to £150 million from the British Business Bank, its single largest ever fund investment – will invest in UK-based AI hardware companies to help them scale and remain rooted in the UK.
Bridge AI Scheme
A £100 million expansion of the government’s Bridge AI scheme has been committed to match British companies (making it £200 million) with British AI expertise, alongside support on skills, AI assurance and practical adoption guidance.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Simon Johnson will chair a new AI Economics Institute, tracking how AI is changing jobs and growth, with more than 30 major companies, including BT, Rolls-Royce and Accenture, sharing data and insights on how they are using AI in the workplace to help shape future policy.
Reforming public services in the legal system
London Tech Week also heard from the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, with a signal that AI’s reach now extends into the justice system itself. New technology projects will aim to deliver improvements across the justice system to tackle the court backlog, including AI legal assistants to support legal professionals with routine casework such as research and case analysis, and streamlined case management processes to get cases moving faster.
Comments from the Law Society of England and Wales
The Law Society of England and Wales comments on the UK government’s announcements about the advisory AI Growth Lab, the AI adoption plan and the AI Economics Institute to support responsible AI adoption in legal services.
Ian Jeffery, CEO of the Law Society of England and Wales has said:
“The Law Society of England and Wales welcomes the government’s recommendations following the publication of the AI Adoption Plan for Professional and Business Services and the launch of a new advisory AI Growth Lab. The AI Growth Lab has the potential to boost innovation by allowing legal service providers to safely test AI tools against the profession’s current robust legal standards.
“Contributing around £60 billion annually to the UK economy and more than £9 billion in exports, the legal sector is already at the forefront of economic growth and artificial intelligence use. Lawyers push innovation forward not only by using AI in their daily work but also by helping technology companies build better products. The legal profession requires clear guidance on how the existing regulatory framework, particularly relating to data security, oversight, reserved legal activities and professional responsibility, can be maintained as AI integration grows. The AI Growth Lab can be an opportunity to innovate but also offer more clarity over the regulatory environment.
“The AI Adoption Plan highlights that successful AI take-up can only happen when people are empowered with the right skills and barriers are removed for smaller businesses. We look forward to working with the government to overcome these hurdles. There must be equitable access to the benefits of AI. The Law Society also welcomes the establishment of the AI Economics Institute and its focus on understanding the impact of AI on jobs, including the legal sector. The priority should be to upskill professionals and incorporate new roles, ensuring technological development goes hand in hand with people development.”
Technology for social good: the UK’s first Homelessness Data Lab
Perhaps the most distinctive note struck at London Tech Week 2026 is the recognition that AI’s transformative potential extends beyond the economy and public services to reach the most vulnerable in society. In a first for the event, homelessness joined the agenda.
Prince William’s Homewards programme has launched the UK’s first Homelessness Data Lab, in partnership with LandAid and Salesforce, bringing together over 25 organisations across business, technology, government, local authorities and frontline services. The Lab’s founding premise is that warning signs of homelessness often appear long before crisis point, and that with the right data tools, it is possible to intervene early enough to prevent it.
Members including Bloomberg, VodafoneThree, Accenture and NatWest Group will develop time-bound, practical projects focused on improving coordination between frontline services, reducing response times, and better signposting support to people at the first signs of struggle. Projects will be piloted across Homewards’ six UK locations: Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland and Sheffield.
London Tech Week 2026 will feature a panel discussion including The Prince of Wales and senior business leaders today, alongside a pitch session where entrepreneurs from Venture Studio, homelessness charity Crisis, and the Homewards locations will present innovations using data and technology to prevent homelessness, placing social impact on the agenda of one of the UK’s premier technology gatherings for the first time.
London Tech Week brings together more than 600 speakers and 30,000 attendees, with more than 100 fringe events taking place across London until 12 June 2026.
Related Post: London Tech Week: Day 1
