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Government to launch AI sandbox scheme
The proposed AI Growth Lab aims to cut red tape and allow companies to test artificial intelligence products in a safe environment
The government has announced plans for artificial intelligence (AI) growth labs, aiming to provide a way for innovative companies to test and pilot responsible AI tools normally hindered by regulation.
It has also launched a public call for views on the scheme, which was announced by technology secretary Liz Kendall today (21 October).
Trialling AI products in a sandbox environment means they can be tested in controlled environments with certain rules and regulations being relaxed, allowing them to create the evidence they need to show the real-world impact they could have.
“To deliver national renewal, we need to overhaul the old approaches which have stifled enterprise and held back our innovators,” said Kendall, announcing the plans at the Times Tech Summit.
“We want to remove the needless red tape that slows progress so we can drive growth and modernise the public services people rely on every day.
“This isn’t about cutting corners – it’s about fast-tracking responsible innovations that will improve lives and deliver real benefits,” she said.
The government hopes this will drive adoption of AI, cut bureaucracy, and support UK businesses to innovate and deliver “tangible national renewal”.
Read more about the government and AI
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- Artificial intelligence promises to boost productivity and shareholder value, but the Trades Union Congress is concerned that AI-fuelled economic growth is leaving workers behind.
- HM Revenue and Customs has begun to roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot to its staff, with the aim of making productivity savings.
The public call for views on the programme will consider whether the AI Growth Lab should be run by the government itself or put directly in the hands of regulators.
Antony Walker, deputy CEO at trade body TechUK, said it welcomed the launch of the lab, and added it “represents a strong, positive step towards a pro-growth regulatory approach that will help companies to safely develop, scale and deploy AI in key sectors of the UK economy”.
“If we get this right, the AI Growth Lab can add real value by drawing on learnings from existing AI sandboxes and working closely with AI businesses to deliver tangible results and deliver real-world impact,” he said.
AI sandboxes aren’t a new phenomenon. The UK pioneered the global sandbox model in 2016, with the Financial Conduct Authority’s fintech sandbox.
In healthcare, a regulatory AI sandbox pilot scheme was launched in 2024 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to help test a series of regulatory issues for standalone AI medical devices.
Following the pilot scheme, the government is also pumping £1m into the MHRA to pilot further AI-assisted tools that can help speed up drug discovery and clinical trial assessments. This comes after a study by the British journal of clinical pharmacology found that by using AI, MHRA clinical trial assessors have been able to more than halve the time it takes to approve new therapies.
The MHRA also joined the HealthAI global regulatory network for safe use of AI as one of its 10 founding “pioneer” countries in June 2025.
Alongside the AI Growth Lab announcement, chancellor Rachel Reeves has also announced progress on the government’s vision for a regulatory system to support growth and innovation. This includes digital planning checks for businesses, which will see developers sending photo evidence to authorities online that will be approved using AI models.
