TechRound

The UK government launched a £500 million Sovereign AI fund back in April with a clear objective: back British AI companies, help them scale quickly and ensure that growth stays in the UK. Designed to operate more like a venture capital firm than a traditional public funding body, this marks a massive shift in how the UK is supporting innovation. For SME leaders and founders, it is not to be mistaken with just another funding announcement.

“Data sovereignty” is a major trending topic these days, from news headlines to themes at major tech events around the world. And it’s not just data everyone’s worried about; it’s the idea of sovereignty in tech altogether. Thus, the recent warning from M16 Chief, Sir Richard Dearlove, about how foreign states have their “fingerprints all over our critical national infrastructure” has done pretty much the opposite of falling on deaf ears. And for good reason.

Germany has industrial depth. The UAE has capital, digital infrastructure and an appetite for rapid deployment. Bringing the two together could turn an established economic relationship into a technology partnership built around applied AI, advanced manufacturing and the industries of the future. Artificial intelligence has generated no shortage of ambitious national strategies. The harder question is what happens when the technology leaves the data centre.

UK organisations faced an average of 1,571 cyber-attacks per week each in August 2026, a 14% increase on the same month last year, according to new threat intelligence from Check Point. While that figure sits below the global average of 2,422 weekly attacks per organisation, it confirms that UK businesses remain firmly in attackers’ sights, with education, energy and utilities, media and entertainment, government and software named as the five most targeted sectors in the country.

Oluwasesan Kayode Yackson is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at ProtonLabs Technology Inc. Ltd. Please Introduce Yourself I’m Oluwasesan Kayode Yackson, a senior software and DevOps engineer, entrepreneur, and Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of ProtonLabs Technology Inc. I began my career in pharmacy, earning my bachelor’s degree before transitioning into software engineering and cloud infrastructure.

Watch an F1 car scream past at 200mph and it’s tempting to think that the driver’s job comes down to two things: steer, and don’t lift off the throttle a moment too early. Behind the visor is someone managing brake balance, energy deployment, differential settings and a constant conversation with the pit wall, all while keeping their hands on the wheel.

England is officially getting local tourist taxes. On 10 September, ministers published their consultation findings, confirming that regional authorities will be able to levy a percentage charge on overnight stays at hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs and holiday rentals. The setup is discretionary for local councils, and the government has intentionally left the maximum rate uncapped in the setup it’s proposing.

A new EU cybersecurity deadline has officially come into effect today, and at first glance, it sounds rather unforgiving: businesses have just 24 hours to report certain cyber incidents. But it’s not quite as simple as that; there’s an important catch. The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) isn’t simply introducing a blanket rule that every business have to report every single cyberattack within 24 hours.

There’s a reason why Harvard continues to pop up whenever you start to dig into the backstories of big, successful companies. It’s not just Facebook, although Mark Zuckerberg is probably the first name that comes to mind when you think of Harvard founders. Harvard’s alumni have gone on to build businesses in just about every industry, spanning finance, healthcare, retail, media and technology.

Anyone assuming AI sandbox breakouts were a thing of the past will be disappointed by Anthropic’s disclosure this week. During a cybersecurity test back in January 2026, a pre-release version of Claude Opus 4.6 bypassed containment to interact with real-world networks, a breach that went undetected for seven months until staff prepared files for an outside review.