UK

VodafoneThree signs deals with Ericsson and Nokia to speed up 5G rollout

VodafoneThree has signed multibillion-pound investment deals with Ericsson and Nokia to accelerate the rollout of what it calls the UK’s best mobile network. The move marks the latest milestone in the newly merged operator’s £11 billion plan.

The partnerships will deliver one of Europe’s largest privately funded infrastructure builds, modernising existing 4G and 5G networks while preparing the country for nationwide 5G Standalone. Four British site-build companies will also support construction across the UK.

VodafoneThree estimates the investment could boost the UK economy by up to £102 billion between 2025 and 2035. Up to 13,000 jobs are expected to be created in engineering and construction, with most based outside London and the South East.

The company says nearly three-quarters of the population will have access to its fastest 5G speeds in the first year, rising to 90% by year three. By 2034, 99.95% of the population is forecast to be covered by 5G Standalone, creating what VodafoneThree describes as the UK’s first nationwide AI-ready network.

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UK and USA sign technology prosperity deal

The UK and the USA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the technology prosperity deal. The aim is to facilitate collaboration on joint opportunities of mutual interest across strategic science and technology areas, including AI, civil energy, and quantum technologies.

The two countries intend to collaborate on building powerful AI infrastructure, expanding access to computing for researchers, and developing high-impact datasets.

Key focus areas include joint flagship research programs in priority domains such as biotechnology, precision medicine, and fusion energy, supported by leading science agencies from both the UK and the USA.

The partnership will also explore AI applications in space, foster secure infrastructure and hardware innovation, and promote AI exports. Efforts will be made to align AI policy frameworks, support workforce development, and ensure broad public benefit.

The US Center for AI Standards and Innovation and the UK AI Security Institute will work together to advance AI safety, model evaluation, and global standards through shared expertise and talent exchange.

Additionally, the deal aims to fast-track breakthrough technologies, streamline regulation, secure supply chains, and outpace strategic competitors.

In the nuclear sector, the countries plan joint efforts in advanced reactors, next-generation fuels, and fusion energy, while upholding the highest standards of safety and non-proliferation.

Lastly, the deal aims to develop powerful machines with real-world applications in defence, healthcare, and logistics, while prioritising research security, cyber resilience, and protection of critical infrastructure.

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EDPS calls for strong safeguards in EU-US border data-sharing agreement

On 17 September 2025, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) issued an Opinion on the EU-US negotiating mandate for a framework agreement on exchanging information for security screenings and identity verifications. The European Commission’s Recommendation aims to establish legal conditions for sharing data between the EU member states and the USA, enabling bilateral agreements tied to the US Visa Waiver Program’s Enhanced Border Security Partnership.

EDPS Wojciech Wiewiórowski emphasised the need to balance border security with fundamental rights, warning that sharing personal and biometric data could interfere with privacy. The agreement, a first for large-scale data sharing with a third country, must strictly limit data processing to what is necessary and proportionate.

The EDPS recommended narrowing the scope of shared data, excluding transfers from sensitive EU systems related to migration and asylum, and called for robust accountability, transparency, and judicial redress mechanisms accessible to all individuals, regardless of nationality.

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UK partners with NVIDIA to drive AI growth and new jobs

NVIDIA and the UK are accelerating plans to build the nation’s AI infrastructure, positioning the country as a hub for AI innovation, jobs and research.

The partnership, announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang earlier in the year, has already resulted in commitments worth up to £11 billion.

A rollout that includes AI factories equipped with 120,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs across UK data centres, supporting projects such as OpenAI’s Stargate UK.

NVIDIA partner Nscale will host 60,000 of these GPUs domestically while expanding its global capacity to 300,000. Microsoft, CoreWeave and other partners are also investing in advanced supercomputing facilities, with new projects announced in England and Scotland.

NVIDIA is working with Oxford Quantum Circuits and other research institutions to integrate AI and quantum technologies in a collaboration that extends to quantum computing.

Universities in Edinburgh and Oxford are advancing GPU-driven quantum error correction and AI-controlled quantum hardware, highlighting the UK’s growing role in cutting-edge science.

To prepare the workforce, NVIDIA has joined forces with techUK and QA to provide training programmes and AI skills development.

The government has framed the initiative as a foundation for economic resilience, job creation and sovereign AI capability, aiming to place Britain at the forefront of the AI industrial revolution.

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UK to benefit from Google’s £5 billion AI plan

Google has unveiled plans to invest £5 billion (around $6.8 billion) in the UK’s AI economy over the next two years.

An announcement comes just hours before US President Donald Trump’s official visit to the country, during which economic agreements worth more than $10 billion are expected.

The investment will include establishing a new AI data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, designed to meet growing demand for services like Google Cloud.

Alongside the facility, funds will be channelled into research and development, capital expenditure, engineering, and DeepMind’s work applying AI to science and healthcare. The project is expected to generate 8,250 annual jobs for British companies.

Google also revealed a partnership with Shell to support grid stability and contribute to the UK’s energy transition. The move highlights the economic and environmental stakes tied to AI expansion, as the UK positions itself as a hub for advanced digital technologies.

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UK plans AI systems to monitor offenders and prevent crimes before they occur

The UK government is expanding its use of AI across prisons, probation and courts to monitor offenders, assess risk and prevent crime before it occurs under the AI Action Plan.

One key measure involves an AI violence prediction tool that uses factors like an offender’s age, past violent incidents and institutional behaviour to identify those most likely to pose risk.

These predictions will inform decisions to increase supervision or relocate prisoners in custody wings ahead of potential violence.

Another component scans seized mobile phone content to highlight secret or coded messages that may signal plotting of violent acts, intelligence operations or contraband activities.

Officials are also working to merge offender records across courts, prisons and probation to create a single digital identity for each offender.

UK authorities say the goal is to reduce reoffending and prioritise public and staff safety, while shifting resources from reactive investigations to proactive prevention. Civil liberties groups caution about privacy, bias and the risk of overreach if transparency and oversight are not built in.

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Jaguar Land Rover extends production halt after cyberattack

Jaguar Land Rover has told staff to stay at home until at least Wednesday as the company continues to recover from a cyberattack.

The hack forced JLR to shut down systems on 31 August, disrupting operations at plants in Halewood, Solihull and Wolverhampton, UK. Production was initially paused until 9 September but has now been extended for at least another week.

Business minister Sir Chris Bryant said it was too early to determine whether the attack was state-sponsored. The incident follows a wave of cyberattacks in the UK, including recent breaches at M&S, Harrods and train operator LNER.

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UK launches CAF 4.0 for cybersecurity

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has released version 4.0 of its Cyber Assessment Framework to help organisations protect essential services from rising cyber threats.

An updated CAF that provides a structured approach for assessing and improving cybersecurity and resilience across critical sectors.

Version 4.0 introduces a deeper focus on attacker methods and motivations to inform risk decisions, ensures software in essential services is developed and maintained securely, and strengthens guidance on threat detection through security monitoring and threat hunting.

AI-related cyber risks are also now covered more thoroughly throughout the framework.

The CAF primarily supports energy, healthcare, transport, digital infrastructure, and government organisations, helping them meet regulatory obligations such as the NIS Regulations.

Developed in consultation with UK cyber regulators, the framework provides clear benchmarks for assessing security outcomes relative to threat levels.

Authorities encourage system owners to adopt CAF 4.0 alongside complementary tools such as Cyber Essentials, the Cyber Resilience Audit, and Cyber Adversary Simulation services. These combined measures enhance confidence and resilience across the nation’s critical infrastructure.

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UK publishers fear Google AI summaries hit revenues

UK publishers warn that Google’s AI Overviews significantly cut website traffic, threatening fragile online revenues.

Reach, owner of the Mirror and Daily Express, said readers often settle for the AI summary instead of visiting its sites. DMG Media told regulators that click-through rates had fallen by up to 89% since the rollout.

Publishers argue that they provide accurate reporting that fuels Google’s search results, yet they see no financial return when users no longer click through. Concerns are growing over Google’s conversational AI Mode, which displays even fewer links.

Google insists that search traffic has remained stable year-on-year and claims that AI overviews offer users more opportunities to find quality links. Still, a coalition of publishers has filed a complaint with the UK Competition and Markets Authority, alleging misuse of their content.

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Jaguar Land Rover production disrupted by cyber incident

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed its production and retail operations were ‘severely disrupted’ due to a cyber incident, prompting a precautionary system shutdown.

The company stated there is currently ‘no evidence’ that any customer data has been compromised and assured it is working at pace to restore systems in a controlled manner.

The incident disrupted output at key UK plants, including Halewood and Solihull, led to operational bottlenecks such as halted vehicle registrations, and impacted a peak retail period following the release of ’75’ number plates.

A Telegram group named Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, a conflation of known hacking collectives, claimed responsibility, posting what appeared to be internal logs. Cybersecurity experts caution that such claims should be viewed sceptically, as attribution via Telegram may be misleading.

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