I am increasingly frustrated about the state of conversation about AI in the UK. It feels like we are in never ending cycles of deluded thinking. Under current trends, Britain will be defenceless against the transformative effects of AI and have no leverage over development at the frontier. We are the most exposed economy to AI in the world. We have very little data centre capacity and few credible plans to expand – and our high energy costs mean we would struggle to even if we tried. I am publishing a paper today on what the UK should do to build that leverage, let the economy capture value from AI and prepare the state to adapt, however AI develops. The three strategies are as follows: 1. Build the infrastructure that gives us leverage. Fix the grid, fix planning, make Britain a place frontier AI can run. 2. Let the economy capture the value of AI. Reform the regulatory, labour and talent barriers that stop British firms adopting AI. 3. Build a state that can adapt to a changing world. Build a tax base that survives the labour market changing, public services that use AI to deliver better, and capacity to weather the upcoming geopolitical storms. Two years ago, we published a similar report on AI - many recommendations of which ended up in the action plan. I remember feeling hopeful, but sadly the fundamental problems facing the country on AI have not shifted. I truly hope that this week of momentum culminates in action. There’s still a narrow path for the UK, but everyday that path is narrowing.

it's the phones

Look at the 30 year!

"America will regret Scott Bessent's bond-market misadventures". New @TheEconomist leader from me, on whether America has just taken a first, tentative step towards a politicised Treasury market and financial repression. You can read here: economist.com/leaders/2026/0…

Stanley Druckenmiller renders an unfavorable opinion of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's use of buybacks to defend against higher yields in a market that is functioning normally. "I have spent five decades trading on a simple premise: Markets aggregate information no committee possesses, and prices are how that information reaches decision makers. The long-term Treasury yield is the most important price in the world. It is also the only fiscal disciplinarian the U.S. has left." "Every basis point of artificial yield suppression is a subsidy to procrastination." "Return buybacks to their stated purpose: small, scheduled, off-the-run liquidity operations announced at quarterly refundings, never off-cycle responses to yield levels. Term out the debt honestly and pay the price the market sets." "If the 30-year must trade at 5.5% to clear, that isn’t a crisis. It is an invoice. Then do the only thing that durably lowers long-term yields: address the primary deficit." wsj.com/opinion/let-the-bond…

People are going into their previous job descriptions on Linkedin and adding "A.I." while removing "D.E.I." and "remote work." nber.org/papers/w35546

Striking dollar market action

BRITAIN WOULD BE BONKERS TO DITCH PALANTIR New @TheEconomist leader from me on Palantir. I most wanted to highlight the troubling illiberal turn by its critics. Two points to make: 1/ The substance of the political objections to Palantir—what parliament's science committee called a "clear mismatch with UK values"— is pretty thin. That committee mainly cited Palantir's work with the American government (a democratically-elected British ally) and Peter Thiel's criticism of "the concept of a national health service". 2/ Even litigating those specifics misses the point. Applying political litmus tests to pick which businesses the government contracts with is plainly illiberal, and has more in common with MAGA's anti-ESG turn, say, than the norms that usually govern British public life. I'm not sure what use there is in "UK values" so blasé about Britain's hard-won liberal principles. Lots in the leader too on lock-in, tech sovereignty and more. You can read it here: economist.com/leaders/2026/0…

A few months ago some folks called to fire me for my blasphemous thoughts on AI. Others privately DM'd me for my setup (sometimes the same people). So I wrote it up: a practical guide to AI for public engagement, useful even if you don't plan to outsource a word of your writing.