The line from ministers (and the companies themselves) is that these agreements are non-binding and exploratory, simply about identifying "opportunities".

As @imogen-parker.bsky.social has recently highlighted, though, it's difficult to square this with government ambitions on AI sovereignty...

We'd like to see more light shone on existing relationships between UK government and AI companies, and on measures that could reduce dependence by providing alternative, genuinely independent sources of expertise

Their analysis finds widely-held public concerns about about the power and profits of technology companies involved in public services — suggesting that ministers ought to be cautious about the risk of growing technological dependence on private industry

Wonderful commemoration of Irish Chartist and radical Bronterre O'Brien at Abney Park Trust's annual memorial lecture — feat. @lsepoltheory.bsky.social's very own @brunoleipold.com

Also worth noting this — absolutely wild — quote from TBI policy guru Benedict Macon-Cooney:

Wonderful passage from Suzuki, which Feenberg uses to illustrate the difference between reification ("addressing the world in technical terms") and de-reification ("transforming the terms in which the world is addressed")

Buzzed for Abney Park's Radical Writers events programme, talking place over the course of 2025 — super varied lineup feat. @hackneyabbott.bsky.social, Iain Sinclair, @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social and @brunoleipold.com, among others.

Details and ticket links below 🤩✒️✊

abneypark.org/radicalwriters

Great to be at @lsehealthpolicy.bsky.social earlier today to hear from the brilliant @mbarber.bsky.social on access to medicines, the "real" cost of making drugs, and the range of tools policymakers have to reduce prices — from antitrust enforcement to pricing regulation and public production 💉💊

To make sense of this complex picture, we group initiatives into four broad families with their own strengths and drawbacks.

We hope this high-level typology will bring some clarity to the public compute debate, and help policymakers to consider which approach is appropriate for their aims

3/5

We map public compute initiatives globally, surveying their varied aims, delivery models and hardware architectures.

Not all public compute projects are equally "public": they range from direct state provision to subsidies and voucher schemes, which afford fewer levers for public control

2/5

Including a pretty good resolution for AI policymakers and commentators to take into 2025:

Happy Christmas! 🎄🐶