Eight months after the UK government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, no trials of the technology have taken place, a freedom of information (FoI) request has revealed. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) confirmed it had “not undertaken any trials under the memorandum of understanding with OpenAI”.
The MoU, hailed by ministers as a key step in using artificial intelligence to “address society’s greatest challenges”, aimed to identify opportunities for deploying advanced AI models across government and the private sector. However, the FoI response indicated no evidence of testing, prompting criticism from AI consultancy Valliance, which filed the request.
DSIT pointed to a separate agreement allowing the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to use ChatGPT with UK-based data storage, as well as work with the UK AI Safety Institute and collaborations with Nvidia and Nscale on AI infrastructure. But critics argue these fall short of the MoU’s ambition. Tarek Nseir, founder of Valliance, said: “Rolling out ChatGPT in a department hardly reflects the ambition of the MoU.”
The government maintained it was “pleased with the progress” on the MoU, describing the work as “active, ongoing and focused on delivering real results”. OpenAI said the FoI did not capture the full scale of its UK activities and that it was “proud of the progress” made.
However, a Guardian investigation found that Nscale, a partner in the Stargate UK project, is unlikely to complete its promised supercomputer on time and has misrepresented progress. OpenAI declined to comment on the deployment of chips under the initiative.
Matt Davies of the Ada Lovelace Institute warned that voluntary partnerships with big AI companies bypass usual procurement rules, raising accountability concerns. “The public are worried about the government’s approach to AI,” he said, citing polling showing 84% concern about the sector’s interests being prioritised over public protection.
