Datacentres now consume 6% of UK electricity, double the global average. The queue to connect to the national grid grew 460% in the first half of 2025 alone. ... and 13% of that energy goes on 'zombie' services - apps nobody uses that were never switched off. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Pleased to be quoted in @politicshome.bsky.social today on tech sovereignty. Really good piece by @matildamartin.bsky.social, asking whether Britain has left it too late, and I think the answer is that we're behind but not out. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NHS England announced this week that digital, data and technology staff will need professional registration. So it was good to speak on a panel about the NHS AI workforce on Wednesday.

With the idea of tiered membership being discussed relating to Ukraine (and others) - might there be an easy third way option for Britain - one that didn't exist in 2016...?

I am in @labourlist.bsky.social today talking about online safety. Yesterday, MPs debated the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill including whether under-16s should be banned from social media. labourlist.org/2026/03/a-th...

Good news. www.cityam.com/fractile-ple...

I've written in Public Technology today about a notable shift to higher standards in tech. www.publictechnology.net/2026/02/05/e...

Poland is standing up to both Russia and the US. Necessity is forcing it to make decisions that other European countries haven't faced up to yet. open.substack.com/pub/danhowl/...

A new dashboard released today by 10 Downing Street and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology shows the progress made on AI in the last year. It's interesting and interactive (link below).

Britain is parking its AI tanks on the White House Lawn. Some thoughts after listening to Liz Kendall yesterday. open.substack.com/pub/danhowl/...

Given his 27 year sentence, Bolsonaro just needs to read 2,464 books and then he can go home. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Professionalising AI is how we turn promise into impact, and how we drive standards so that AI abuse can’t happen. I’m in LabourList today talking about how we do that. labourlist.org/2026/01/trus... #AI #Tech #Grok

Great to hear from the Minister for AI & Online Safety, Kanishka Narayan MP last night at Labour Tech, discussing not least the importance of tech sovereignty. Thanks to Lewis Bailey (@lewisbailey.org), Adam Allnutt @adamallnutt.bsky.social)and the rest of the team for putting on a great event.

Very interesting polling out today - Starmer very well placed when compared to named alternatives. This is far more relevant than looking at the simple polls on Starmer’s (relative) unpopularity in a vacuum - you can’t vote for ‘Not Starmer’.

7 million people in the UK used X daily in May 2025 (down from 9 million two years earlier) for an average of 6 minutes a day (down from 10 minutes two years earlier) Government ministers are misinformed so dramatically overestimate/exaggerate its reach & usage compared to other media

“In the UK, the social media site recorded a 58.3% fall in revenues from £69.1m in 2023 to £28.9m last year Pre-tax profits plunged from £2.2m to £767,000 year-on-year.”

One of the most powerful Trade Unions in the US is proposing a wealth tax on billionaires in California. A one off 5% tax on those worth more than $1Bn. That's ~200 people who hold $2 trillion in wealth. It's supported by the representative for Silicon Valley but opposed by Governor Gavin Newson.

The Grok issue was so dangerous because so many users on Twitter didn’t sign up to be on that kind of site. Millions of people signed up over the years to engage with friends, follow celebrities and be part of something normal. And now they’re being exposed to content that can cause real harm.

It’s good to see (some) European solidarity today. My solitary Substack was about why Britain should look to Europe, not just California for tech answers. Beyond Silicon Valley: substack.com/@danhowl/not...

Really good piece in The Times today from our CEO on the Grok nudification issue.