Eight months after signing a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI, the UK government had yet to run a single formal trial under the agreement.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by Valliance revealed that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology held no records of any such trials, confirming it had "not undertaken any trials under the memorandum of understanding with OpenAI." The July 2025 agreement was presented as a significant step towards using advanced AI to address major societal challenges and reform public services.
DSIT, in response to the Guardian, said work under the agreement was ongoing, and pointed to a separate Ministry of Justice initiative allowing civil servants to use ChatGPT with UK-based data storage. OpenAI said the FOI response did not reflect the full scope of its UK activity.
Tarek Nseir, co-founder of Valliance, said the lack of visible progress risked undermining public trust and making businesses more hesitant about adoption. The findings raise urgent questions about the gap between the government's stated AI ambitions and its ability to translate high-profile deals into real-world delivery.
