Where is the UK's Mistral? The UK doesn't have an AI champion, leaving a gaping hole: how can we fill it?

The UK is the third largest AI market in the world, after the US and China, and is the first country in Europe to produce 168 tech unicorns, according to government figures. Still, we don't have a recognisable AI champion we can call our own.

DeepMind? The promising AI research laboratory built by Britain's brightest minds was snapped up by Google and carried off across the Atlantic. Wayve? The UK's most valuable autonomous vehicle company recently reached a milestone towards a wider rollout of self-driving vehicles… on American roads. Darktrace? The Cambridge-based cybersecurity company has been leading a massive expansion drive across the US since being taken over by the US private equity firm Thoma Bravo.

The problem is our AI ambitions suffer from the "DeepMind success paradox": we capture the talent, but outsource the impact. As long as British technology companies keep expanding into other markets or selling to foreign firms, we risk becoming an 'incubator economy', according to a February parliament inquiry report, unable or unwilling to nurture our startups into scaleups that can compete globally. As Baroness Stowell, chair of said inquiry, put it: "Every UK unicorn that gallops overseas to list, or sells out to foreign investors, is a blow to UK PLC and our aspirations for growth."

Meanwhile, across the Channel, Europe is pinning its hopes on homegrown AI darling Mistral, which the Financial Times recently reported was targeting a $10bn valuation in a new fundraising round to compete with the likes of its deep-pocketed competitors in America and China. While Mistral remains behind giants like OpenAI and Anthropic in both fundraising and commercialisation, and trails DeepSeek in attracting developers to their open-source models, it signals that Europe is fighting for its digital sovereignty rather than selling out to the highest bidder.

Having a champion isn't about national pride or patriotism. It's about securing our digital independence, keeping high-value jobs at home, stimulating economic growth, and ensuring that AI development reflects our values and priorities. The UK has many of the ingredients to build a local champion. After all, we're home to the world's most renowned universities, the most recognisable icons in Alan Turing and Geoffrey Hinton, and a government increasingly willing to play ball through its AI Opportunities Action Plan. But we're fighting an uphill battle, facing persistent barriers, including challenges in retaining and recruiting top technical talent, and a risk-averse business environment. If we want to build the UK equivalent of a Mistral, we need three structural shifts to happen and a significant mindset shift.

First, we must arrest the brain drain and ward off the Silicon Valley elite luring our brightest minds away with ludicrous pay packages. The government's new Global Talent Visa and £54m research fund are steps in the right direction. Still, we can be more aggressive in offering specialist tax incentives for founders and better IP frameworks for university spin-outs.

Second, we must heed the choice words offered by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in London in June, who says we have the potential, but not the foundations, to become a leader in AI. The government's £1bn commitment to expand our AI Research Resource (AIRR) programme capacity by 20x by 2030 is encouraging, but private industry must step up too. Our industrial giants like Rolls-Royce are leading by example, having recently inked a deal with the UK government to build specialist nuclear power plants for AI. We need more of our biggest and best firms to step up and provide the infrastructure necessary to secure our AI sovereignty.

Third, we must focus on areas where we have a competitive advantage. We have a massive treasure trove of health data in the NHS that, with the right ethical frameworks, could power the world's most advanced medical AI. Or consider London's enviable position in global finance and insurance. We must use these sectors as launch pads for AI applications that American and Chinese companies can't easily replicate.

Above and beyond all the investments, programmes, and schemes, a fundamental cultural and entrepreneurial mindset shift must take place. We must celebrate our founders and foster a 'fail and try again' mindset so we encourage local entrepreneurs to dream bigger than reality allows. Entrepreneurs must think like a category leader from day one: if your vision doesn't scare a competitor in Silicon Valley or Shenzhen, it's too small.

More practically, UK entrepreneurs should build their go-to-market strategy much earlier in the product development lifecycle. The US doesn't beat us on talent; it beats us on sales. Ship earlier, sell harder, iterate faster. Part of doing that is selling the outcome, not the AI. As "AI for X" is not a credible business model, while "We save companies £10 million a year" is.

Our competition isn't in Shoreditch. It's in Paris, San Francisco, and Shenzhen. They're moving fast. We can move faster. So here's the challenge for entrepreneurs: stop obsessing over your model and start obsessing over your market. That's how we get a UK Mistral. Or maybe something even bigger.