Finance
UK announces Meta-backed AI team to upgrade public services
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 27, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 27, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
The UK government, with Meta's backing, forms an AI team to develop open-source tools enhancing public services like transport and safety.
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The British government said on Tuesday it had recruited a team of artificial intelligence specialists to build AI tools to improve transport, public safety and defence, using funding from Meta.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, like many other leaders around the world, is looking to tap into the huge economic potential of developing an AI industry and, at the same time, use the technology to improve productivity across government.
The government said the AI experts would spend the next year developing open-source tools to improve how authorities maintain roads and transport networks, manage public safety, and make decisions on national security.
The body includes a data scientist from the Alan Turing Institute and university researchers whose expertise spans computer vision, applied machine learning for the public sector, robotics-driven imaging and the design of trustworthy, safety-critical AI systems.
The programme will focus on developing technology that public bodies can run without relying on commercial, closed-source systems, it added.
Meta, which announced funding the project in July last year, said at the time the experts would be using open-source models like Meta's artificial intelligence system, Llama - a large language model capable of processing data including text, video, images and audio.
It also said tools built with these models would be owned by the government, allowing departments to keep sensitive data in-house and adapt the technology as needed.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by William James)
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. AI can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, and decision-making.
Open-source technology refers to software that is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This approach encourages collaboration and sharing of knowledge among developers and users.
Collaboration in AI development is significant as it brings together diverse expertise and resources, leading to more innovative solutions and effective applications of AI technology in various sectors.
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