UK administration collaborating with Meta on a specialized AI engineering squad to boost AI utilization across the public sector
The UK government has announced a groundbreaking $1 million AI program in collaboration with Meta, aimed at developing open-source AI tools for high-security public sector use-cases. Known as the Open-Source AI Fellowship, the initiative will engage 10 AI engineering fellows for a 12-month period, starting from January 2026 [1][3][5].
The program, led by the Alan Turing Institute, will focus on creating practical AI solutions that are "open, practical, and built for public good" [1][3]. Key focus areas and potential use-cases include:
1. AI-powered language translation tools that could be used for national security purposes [1][3]. 2. Utilising construction planning data to speed up housing development approvals, helping to alleviate planning delays and accelerate building more homes [1][3]. 3. Enhancing "Humphrey," a suite of AI tools for civil servants, to improve efficiency in summarising documents, consultations, taking notes, and responding to ministerial requests, thereby boosting government productivity [1][3]. 4. Applying AI to support national security, public health, and planning reform, ensuring government-owned open-source models handle sensitive data internally, reducing dependency on foreign closed AI systems like OpenAI, Google, or Microsoft [5]. 5. Increasing productivity across the public sector, potentially leading to up to £45 billion in gains and lowering taxpayer costs [5].
All developed tools will be open-source and available for public use, reinforcing transparency and sovereignty over government AI applications [1][5]. Meta will fund the initiative and provide their Llama 3.5 open-source AI models to power the development efforts [1][3][5].
The government's collaboration with big tech companies, including Google Cloud, aims to drive innovation across public services [2]. Technology secretary, Peter Kyle, urged tech companies to bring their best ideas and technology at the best price to the government [4]. The goal is to allow public sector organisations to easily adopt cutting-edge technologies and drive efficiency [2].
The tool Caddy, developed with Citizens Advice, is already being used by Cabinet Office teams and six Citizen's Advice centers across the country. This AI customer service assistant helps solve queries for staff on a range of issues and has shown to halve response times [6].
The program is not limited to Meta's Llama 3.5 range of open-source AI models but also includes support from other big tech companies like Google Cloud [7]. The UK government is also working with Google Cloud to migrate services to the cloud [8].
Interested applicants are urged to register ahead of applications going live next week [9]. Peter Kyle stated that the program aims to create real tools that help government work better for people [9]. With the new AI program, the UK government is taking significant strides towards modernising public services and leveraging technology to drive efficiency and improve the quality of life for its citizens.
References: [1] Gov.uk (2025). Open-Source AI Fellowship. Available at: [2] The Guardian (2025). UK Government Partners with Big Tech to Drive Innovation in Public Services. Available at:
- In collaboration with Meta, the Open-Source AI Fellowship, led by the Alan Turing Institute, is focusing on creating AI solutions that improve cybersecurity for high-security public sector use-cases, such as AI-powered language translation tools for national security purposes.
- To ensure government-owned open-source models can handle sensitive data inclusively and maintain transparency, the government is application AI technology to increase the infrastructure of national security, public health, and planning reform, while also supporting the development of practical AI tools for construction planning data and improving the efficiency of Civil Service tools like "Humphrey."
