This page covers the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the UK ministerial home of AI policy since 2023, and the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), an expert advisory body now operating within DSIT under the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) branding. DSIT is the UK government's lead department for AI, data, digital, and emerging-technology policy and the parent of the UK AI Safety Institute.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | UK ministerial department | |
| Created | February 2023 (carved out of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy / DCMS) | |
| Secretary of State (current) | [[peter-kyle | Peter Kyle]] (since July 2024) |
| Known for | UK AI policy lead; parent of the [[uk-ai-safety-institute | UK AI Safety Institute]] and CDEI/RTA |
Mandate and AI portfolio
DSIT is the UK government's lead department for AI, data, digital, and emerging-technology policy. Its AI portfolio includes hosting the UK AI Safety Institute (established November 2023; renamed UK AI Security Institute February 2025); publishing the UK AI regulatory approach, described as a "pro-innovation" framework of sectoral regulator guidance rather than a cross-cutting AI Act; ownership of the delayed UK AI Bill (see UK AI Bill — Status and Delay (Source Summary)); coordination of the Bletchley (2023), Seoul (2024), and follow-on AI summits (see The Bletchley Declaration (AI Safety Summit, 1–2 November 2023), Frontier AI Safety Commitments (Seoul, 2024)); and hosting CDEI / RTA.
July 2026 abolition
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's abolition of DSIT became public on July 21, 2026, with AI minister Kanishka Narayan elevated to cabinet in the same reorganization (Source: bbc.com). The July 20, 2026 appointment made Narayan the UK's first dedicated AI minister (Source: techieray.substack.com). The destination of DSIT's AI portfolio — including sponsorship of the AI Security Institute and ownership of the delayed UK AI Bill — was not detailed in the initial reporting.
Regulatory posture
The UK has deliberately not pursued a single horizontal AI Act in the style of the EU AI Act. DSIT's approach instead rests on four elements.
It is principles-based: a 2023 AI regulation white paper established five principles (safety, transparency, fairness, accountability, contestability) that sectoral regulators apply in their domains. It is sectoral regulator-led: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the CMA, the FCA, Ofcom, the MHRA, and others each issue AI guidance within their statutory remits. It relies on voluntary AISI access: the UK AISI operates pre-deployment model access arrangements with frontier labs on a voluntary basis, with no statutory authority. And it has so far deferred statutory codification: the UK AI Bill has been pushed to post-May 2026, with DSIT citing industry consultation, alignment with US posture, and preserving UK competitiveness as reasons.
The UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 is the only AI-adjacent UK statute of the current period. It reforms automated decision-making and reconstitutes the ICO as the Information Commission, but defers frontier-model regulation. The UK's sectoral approach is explicitly positioned against the EU's horizontal regulation in the EU AI Act.
Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) / Responsible Technology Adoption Unit
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Expert body / government unit |
| Founded | 2018 (as CDEI, within the Cabinet Office and later DCMS) |
| Current form | Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) within DSIT |
| Known for | AI assurance roadmap; algorithmic transparency standard; AI portfolio of applied-policy publications |
CDEI was established in 2018 as an expert advisory body to the UK government on data and AI ethics. Its core outputs included the AI Assurance Roadmap (2021), which argued for a mixed ecosystem of standards, audits, and certifications; the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS), a framework for public-sector algorithm disclosure; and applied research on public attitudes, procurement, and regulator capacity.
Around 2023–2024, CDEI was rebranded and restructured as the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) within DSIT, narrowing its mandate to applied public-sector AI adoption and reducing its arms-length advisory positioning.
People
Peter Kyle has been Secretary of State for DSIT since July 2024. The DSIT Permanent Secretary and CTO roles rotate, and CDEI/RTA leadership has rotated multiple times during the restructuring.
Related sources and outputs
- Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 — Source Summary — the UK's principal current AI-adjacent statute; reconstitutes the ICO
- UK AI Bill — Status and Delay (Source Summary) — status of the delayed AI Bill
- UK AI Safety Institute (AI Security Institute) — DSIT-housed evaluation agency
- UK AISI — Advanced AI Evaluations May Update, UK AISI Frontier AI Trends Report 2025 — AISI outputs
Relationships
- related: UK AI Safety Institute (AI Security Institute) — DSIT-housed
- related: Peter Kyle — current Secretary of State
- related: UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — principal AI-adjacent regulator; reconstituted by DUAA
- related: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 — Source Summary, UK AI Bill — Status and Delay (Source Summary)
- related: The Bletchley Declaration (AI Safety Summit, 1–2 November 2023), Frontier AI Safety Commitments (Seoul, 2024) — UK-convened international outcomes
- contradicts (framing): EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) — the UK's sectoral approach is explicitly positioned against EU horizontal regulation