Data centre planning applications rocketed more than 60 per cent in 2025 January 13, 2026 Data centre planning applications hit an all-time high in the UK in 2025, CityAM can reveal, as investors rushed to gain a foothold in the burgeoning AI market. More than 60 separate planning applications for the construction of new data centres were filed in England and Wales over the course of the year, according [...]
Trump official warns UK on ‘Russia-style’ X ban after Grok row January 11, 2026 A key Trump administration official has sent the UK a firm warning following speculation Elon Musk’s X platform may face a ban after a scandal around AI-generated images. Sarah Rogers, under-secretary for public diplomacy at the US State Department, issued a series of messages criticising the UK on the rumoured ban. Rogers said the UK [...]
Legacy banks must ‘radically modernise’ or lose to fintech stars, says former Barclays boss January 1, 2026 A decade ago, Antony Jenkins was ousted from his role as chief executive of Barclays and months later warned the banking sector was reaching an “Uber moment”. Jenkins declared technology would be an “unstoppable force” in the banking sector and could lead to hundreds of branch closures and potentially slash the industry’s workforce by half. [...]
MPs push for stricter AI rules as UK lags December 8, 2025 Over 100 UK parliamentarians have called on the government to tighten the reigns on AI regulation, warning that ministers risk letting the technology race ahead unchecked. The cross-party push, led by figures including former defence secretary Lord Des Browne and ex-environment minister Lord Zac Goldsmith, argues that superintelligent AI could become “the most perilous technological [...]
Revolut and LSEG join growing list of OpenAI customers December 3, 2025 Fintech juggernaut Revolut has joined a host of banking giants in leveraging OpenAI tech to beef up their financial crime protections. The digital bank is one of the latest to partner with the ChatGPT maker as it seeks to enhance its fincrime agent and customer services. The $75bn fintech is also using OpenAI’s large language [...]
WPP shares jump as embattled advertiser draws takeover interest November 17, 2025 Shares in advertising giant WPP soared as markets opened on Monday following reports the firm was the subject of takeover interest. The FTSE 100 group is said to be in the centre of deals chatter with interest from French rival Havas, as well as private equity firms Apollo and KKR. WPP soared ten per cent [...]
FTSE 100 and S&P 500 circle record highs as US shutdown cools November 10, 2025 Global markets sprung back to life on Monday after AI jitters and the US government shutdown helped trigger widespread sell-offs last week. The S&P 500 – which tracks the 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States – jumped over one per cent to 6,804.80p at Wall Street’s opening bell. The tech-heavy [...]
London’s £10bn data centre boom accelerates amid AI power crunch November 7, 2025 London’s data centre sector is entering a new phase of expansion, with three major schemes worth over £10bn revealed in the past week. The projects, all located in and around the capital, aim to serve the growing computing needs of the City, tech firms, and the broader UK economy, particularly AI workloads. The developments are [...]
UK justice ministry adopts ChatGPT to cut red tape October 23, 2025 OpenAI has signed a new agreement with the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that will see 2,500 civil servants gain access to ChatGPT, as the government prioritises rolling out AI to modernise public services. Announced on Thursday at the OpenAI frontiers conference in London, the move forms part of a broader deal signed earlier this [...]
What an AI bubble could mean for Reeves October 10, 2025 The traditional ministerial photo-op of walking around a construction site clad in a high-vis jacket and a hard hat usually takes place at a factory or housing site. But last month, chancellor Rachel Reeves donned fluorescent yellow for a different facility – a huge data centre built to power the UK’s digital economy through AI. [...]