Meta Funds $1 Million AI Fellowship Program for UK Government

Meta to pay $1 million to bolster UK government's AI workforce

One of the world's biggest tech and artificial intelligence (AI) companies will front a $1 million (€854,000) grant for the UK government to develop new technologies. The United Kingdom is bolstering its tech workforce to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools for government. And Meta is footing the $1 million (€854,000) bill. Through the new "Open-Source AI Fellowship," 10 fellows will work with the UK government for one year to build AI tools for "high-security use cases" in the public sector, such as language translation for national security or using construction data to speed up approval processes to build more homes. The fellows could also work on "Humphrey," a suite of AI-powered tools for civil servants to help them effectively deliver on minister requests, like summarising documents, consultations, and taking notes. The programme could also see fellows using Meta's Llama 3.5 AI model to create new tools that could unblock planning delays, boost national security, or reduce the cost to integrate AI throughout the government. Meta will issue the $1 million grant to the Alan Turing Institute, and fellows will then be placed in the UK government. "This Fellowship is the best of AI in action - open, practical, and built for public good. It's about delivery, not just ideas - creating real tools that help government work better for people," Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, said in a government release. The UK government is already testing an AI for the public service called Caddy, an open-source AI assistant used at Citizen's Advice centres. It gives the users of a government call service advice on common questions about managing debt, getting legal help, or knowing their rights as a customer. The fellowships will begin in January 2026, and all of the initiatives developed by the engineers will be open-source and available for public use. The announcement comes in the same week as another agreement struck between the UK government and Google Cloud that aims to upskill 100,000 civil servants in tech and AI by 2030. The goal of that programme is to have at least one in every 10 government officials be tech experts.

Government to announce new scheme as it ramps up AI adoption with backing from Facebook owner Meta

Meta is giving $1m (£740k) to the UK government for 10 AI fellowships as the UK's adoption of the technology expands. The money will go to the government via the Alan Turing Institute. The government is speeding up its adoption of AI to try and encourage economic growth - with backing from Facebook parent Meta. It will today announce a $1m (£740,000) scheme to hire up to 10 AI "experts" to help with the adoption of the technology. Sir Keir Starmer has spoken repeatedly about wanting to use the developing technology as part of his "plan for change" to improve the UK - with claims it could produce tens of billions in savings and efficiencies. Politics live: Follow the latest updates The government is hoping the new hires could help with problems like translating classified documents en masse, speeding up planning applications or help with emergency responses when power or internet outages occur. The funding for the roles is coming from Meta, through the Alan Turing Institute. Adverts will go live next week, with the new fellowships expected to start at the beginning of 2026. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: "This fellowship is the best of AI in action - open, practical, and built for public good. It's about delivery, not just ideas - creating real tools that help government work better for people." He added: "The fellowship will help scale that kind of impact across government, and develop sovereign capabilities where the UK must lead, like national security and critical infrastructure." The projects will all be based on open source models, meaning there will be a minimal cost for the government when it comes to licensing. Meta describes its own AI model, Llama, as open source, although there are questions around whether it truly qualifies for that title due to parts of its code base not being published. The owner of Facebook has also sponsored several studies into the benefits of government adopting more open source AI tools. Read more: UK to be AI 'maker not taker' - PM Govt AI adviser stands down Mr Kyle's Department for Science and Technology has been working on its mission to increase the uptake of AI within government, including through the artificial intelligence "incubator", under which these fellowships will fall. The secretary of state has pointed to the success of Caddy - a tool that helps call centre workers search for answers in official documents faster - and its expanding use across government as an example of an AI success story. He said the tool, developed with Citizens Advice, shows how AI can "boost productivity, improve decision-making, and support frontline staff". A trial suggested it could cut waiting times for calls in half. My Kyle also recently announced a deal with Google to provide tech support to government and assist with modernisation of data. 👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne's on your podcast app👈 Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer from Meta, said: "Open-source AI models are helping researchers and developers make major scientific and medical breakthroughs, and they have the potential to transform the delivery of public services too. "This partnership with ATI will help the government access some of the brightest minds and the technology they need to solve big challenges - and to do it openly and in the public interest." Jean Innes, the head of the Alan Turing Institute, said: "These fellowships will offer an innovative way to match AI experts with the real world challenges our public services are facing."