The UK government signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI in July 2025, presenting it as a defining moment for public service reform. Eight months later, a Freedom of Information request by Valliance revealed that not a single trial had taken place under the agreement.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology confirmed it had "not undertaken any trials under the memorandum of understanding with OpenAI." Tarek Nseir, co-founder of Valliance, argued the finding exposed a dangerous gap between stated ambition and visible delivery.
The government pointed to a separate Ministry of Justice initiative allowing civil servants to use ChatGPT since October 2025, alongside ongoing infrastructure work with Nvidia and AI safety collaboration with the UK AI Safety Institute. Critics, including Nseir, said those efforts fell short of the original pledge. "There's no shortage of ambition or spending in the UK, but the issue is in delivery," he said. "If the government's own flagship partnerships aren't producing visible progress, public trust will erode and businesses will hesitate." The article sets the stakes plainly.
The UK has committed to leading on AI, but without tangible outcomes to point to, that commitment risks becoming a statement of intent rather than a record of action.
