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The writer is a visiting academic at Oxford university, and worked in the White House on competition and tech policy. His forthcoming book is ‘The Age of Extraction’
The recent spate of large investments by American tech companies in the UK, arriving along with Donald Trump’s state visit, are undoubtedly a strong signal of trust. No government in its right mind could be upset about billions being spent on infrastructure. But it is important to avoid confusing those investments with actually having a domestic tech industry.
If there’s one place from which Keir Starmer’s government might take a lesson, it is the US itself — where the rise of the tech platforms has actually widened the gap between winner and loser regions. Britain needs to make sure it is not caught on the wrong side of that divide, and that it doesn’t end up becoming another Silicon Valley satellite.