推动未来：为什么人工智能合作伙伴关系对英国初创企业至关重要

AIpartnerships Authors Vinous AliDeputy Executive DirectorStartup Coalition AboutStartup Coalition The Startup Coalition is an independent advocacy group that serves as the policy voice for the UK’stechnology-led startups and scaleups. We were founded in 2010 by Mike Butcher, Editor-at-Large ofTechCrunch, and Jeff Lynn, Chairman and Co-Founder of online investment platform Seedrs. We fightfor a policy environment that enables early-stage British tech companies to grow, scale, and competeglobally. Our network includes over 4000 startups, scale-ups, and investors. We have been instrumental inbuilding proactive coalitions of businesses and investors on issues integral to the health of the UK’sstartup ecosystem. Our work has seen many successes, from the establishment of the Future Fund tothe creation of the Scale-up visa. Acknowledgements We are grateful to all the founders and investors who shared their time, insights, expertise - and yes -frustrations with us. Introduction The emergence of generative AI marks a pivotal technological shift, poised to fundamentally reshapeindustries and economies globally. At the core of this revolution lie foundation models. Over the course of the last year, Startup Coalition has explored how the UK - with the support ofgovernment - can seize the opportunity generative AI offers. Through a series of papers we haveexplored how Government can open up data it holds (Data: the lifeblood of UK AI startups), ensureregulation is not a barrier (A pro-innovation Regulatory Innovation Office) and offered our thoughts onwhat role Government can play in both stimulating, aggregating and resourcing demand for compute(Hard to Compute). In all these areas the government is making huge strides forward to equip our AI startups with what theyneedto go toe to toe with leading nations in the AI race. Thisalone will not be enough. Thedevelopment and scaling of these models demands immense resources - compute power, vast datasets,and specialised talent that few individual startups possess and which the government alone cannot plug. Strategic partnerships between innovative AI startups and larger technology firms have emerged as away to bridge this gap. These partnerships act as critical conduits for capital infusion, offering unfetteredaccess to compute infrastructure and accelerated market reach. Thesecollaborations are not merely beneficial;they are essential for democratising access tocompute-intensive AI development, unlocking significant efficiencies that drive innovation and allowingknowledge and talent to move more freely. In short, partnerships help relieve challenges of scarcity thatabound in this field. These new partnerships have raised red flags for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) whichhas dedicated significant effort, both to understanding the dynamics of these relationships, and what theymean for competition in an area moving at “a whirlwind pace” (their words not ours, although we agree!).1 The CMA’s approach understandably stems from a legitimate desire to avoid what many see as pastregulatory lags in digital markets; however, it risks misinterpreting the nuanced dynamics of the nascentAI ecosystem. The historical concern of being too slow to act in previous digital market developmentsappears to be driving a rapid, undifferentiated response to AI. This desire, which is recognisable in a number of jurisdictions, is having a negative impact on what is anemerging market. Simply put - firms are increasingly favouring alternative structures, to mitigate against rregulatory risk. This trend highlights a fundamental challenge in applying established competition lawframeworks to the rapid and often intangible evolution of the AI ecosystem. what has come to be lovingly known as the ‘4 Ps’: ●pace,●predictability,●proportionality, and●process. Together the 4Ps form the CMA’s north-star. They are its articulation of how regulators can be partnersfor innovation and growth, responding and aligning to the Government's own call to action laid out in theRegulation Action Plan. Translating this framework into action is well underway. In October of this year, the CMA launched aconsultation on its draft update to theMerger Remedies Guidance. Much of this aims at codifying themore permissive approach we are already starting to see emerge from the CMA in various commentary.- this is welcome. Startups may thrive in uncertain waters when it comes to business but predictability iskey in the case of regulation. However, changes to guidance and a culture-shift to better align with the government’s pro-growthmission will only take the CMA so far. In some cases legislative action is needed to enable the CMA tofully deliver on its 4Ps and restore trust after a period where it has felt that it has been pushing at thelimits of its discretion. The rules, and discretion around them, have a tangible impact on whether companies want to invest andset up shop here in the UK, and whethe