Britain is lagging in the global AI race ... and these are the damning reasons why

The UK is a world leader in research and training, yet much of the talent fostered here vanishes abroad in search of better opportunities.

- Serena Cesareo reports

Five years after relocating his AI startup, Gravitee, to London, Rory Blundell has been spending his time elsewhere: house-hunting in Denver, Colorado. The CEO, who founded Gravitee in France a decade ago, has grown his agentic AI company to 130 staff and raised $60m this year. But he says the pull from the US is becoming hard to ignore: "All our investors, everybody, wants us to relocate."

Gravitee is exactly the sort of company that UK ministers say they want to build. It is technically ambitious, scaling quickly and rooted in Britain's top-tier AI research base. London helped turn Blundell into a successful founder, but global competition means he is now weighing up whether the next stage of the company's life should be spent elsewhere.

Blundell's dilemma is not unique. New data from The Observer Global AI Index, launched last week, suggests a broader pattern: the UK trains world-class AI talent and attracts strong investment, but struggles to turn those strengths into long-term companies and careers. That's because foreign countries, mainly the US, offer easier access to three key startup ingredients: capital, AI infrastructure and talent networks.

"Many AI startups start in the UK but end up scaling in the US because that's where hiring, capital and customers converge," says Nathan Benaich, founder of AI-focused venture firm Air Street Capital.