Australian construction tech firm ProcurePro raises $11m at an $80m+ valuation, led by QIC Ventures, to scale its AI-driven procurement platform across the UK, Middle East and North America.
Category: AI
Artificial intelligence coverage with the Business Matters filter: not the hype cycle, but what AI adoption actually looks like inside UK firms – the tools, the costs, the failures, and the regulation heading down the track.
American Express opens free AI training to small firms as adoption gap widens
American Express has unveiled free AI upskilling courses and scholarships of up to $1,000 to help small business owners and staff turn generative AI from novelty into a daily productivity tool.
Publishers take Meta to court in landmark AI copyright showdown
Five major publishers including Hachette and Macmillan have sued Meta in Manhattan federal court, alleging the tech giant pirated millions of books to train its Llama AI. Industry experts warn UK SMEs of mounting licensing risks.
Humanoid robots step onto the recycling line as waste firms battle 40% staff turnover
British waste firms turn to humanoid AI robots to tackle 40% staff turnover and dangerous conditions on recycling lines. Inside Sharp Group’s Rainham plant where Alpha is being trained to sort 280,000 tonnes a year.
Microsoft plants AI flag in Soho with Film House lease as London tech land grab accelerates
Microsoft has leased the entire eight-storey Film House on Wardour Street to anchor its growing UK AI operations, as London cements its status as a global tech hub.
Meta’s $145bn AI splurge spooks investors despite engagement surge
Meta lifts its 2026 AI capex forecast to as much as $145bn, sending shares 7% lower in after-hours trading despitMark Zuckerberg’s pledge to deliver “personal superintelligence” fails to calm Wall Street as the social media group lifts its 2026 capital expenditure forecast by another $10bn, even as an algorithm overhaul drives record time spent on Instagram and Facebook.
e a strong Q1 earnings beat and record engagement.
SafetyMode warns MPs of ‘false choice’ on child smartphone safety as global pressure mounts
British AI child safety firm SafetyMode has written to every UK MP, urging ministers to look beyond outright bans and embrace on-device technology to protect children from online harm.
British deep-tech start-up loc.ai raises £1m to break SMEs free from the cloud’s ‘inference tax’
British deep-tech start-up Loc.ai has raised £1m led by Fuel Ventures to shift AI inference off the cloud and onto users’ own devices, easing SaaS margin pressure and bolstering UK data sovereignty.
Ministers urge British boardrooms to sign cyber-resilience pledge as AI threat escalates
Ministers have written to nearly 200 UK business leaders urging them to sign a new cyber-resilience pledge as Anthropic’s Mythos AI model raises hacking fears across the City, banks and SMEs.
Simply Business becomes first UK broker to put small business cover inside ChatGPT
Simply Business has become the first UK broker to launch a small business insurance app inside ChatGPT, giving sole traders and SMEs instant indicative quotes in seconds.
Disabled consumers must shape AI from the start, business leaders warned
New Business Disability Forum poll finds 40% of disabled UK adults say involving them in AI design is vital. Businesses urged to embed inclusive practice from day one.
Barclays and Lloyds join FCA’s second AI sandbox as banks race to prove their tech credentials
Barclays and Lloyds have joined the FCA’s second AI live testing cohort alongside Experian, GoCardless and UBS, as UK banks accelerate their artificial intelligence investment.
Meta to axe 8,000 jobs in May as Zuckerberg bets the house on AI
Meta is preparing to cut roughly 10% of its global workforce from May, with further redundancies later in 2026, as Mark Zuckerberg pours hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence.
Finance chiefs sound alarm over Anthropic’s ‘mythos’ AI model amid cyber-security fears
Finance ministers, central bankers and Barclays’ chief executive warn that Anthropic’s new Mythos AI model could expose critical vulnerabilities in the world’s financial systems.
Government calls on EdTech firms to build safe AI tutors for disadvantaged pupils
The UK government is inviting EdTech firms and AI labs to bid for £300,000 grants to co-design safe, curriculum-aligned AI tutoring tools for up to 450,000 disadvantaged pupils a year, with classroom trials starting this summer.
