The UK government has unveiled a sweeping initiative to train 7.5 million workers and 1 million secondary school students in artificial intelligence (AI) skills, partnering with global tech leaders including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the “TechFirst” program on Monday, framing it as a strategy to empower youth and workers to “shape the future” of the AI-driven economy.
With £187 million ($253 million) allocated for classroom AI education and industry collaboration to provide free training materials, the program aims to integrate AI literacy into core curricula. Workers will learn to leverage chatbots and large language models to enhance productivity, while students gain foundational skills for emerging tech careers.
The initiative comes as the UK’s AI sector – currently valued at £72 billion – grows 30 times faster than the broader economy. Government projections suggest it could surpass £800 billion by 2035, employing over 64,000 specialists. NVIDIA will further support the effort through memorandums of understanding to develop nationwide AI talent pipelines.
Google EMEA President Debbie Weinstein praised the cross-sector collaboration as crucial for maintaining the UK’s position in global AI leadership. For Asian markets observing this development, the program offers insights into large-scale workforce retraining strategies applicable to rapidly digitizing economies.
