"they risk lock-in tomorrow"
Google has signed a wide-ranging agreement with the UK government to provide free technology and training to the public sector, including the NHS and local councils.
Ministers say the deal will help “shake off decades-old ‘ball and chain’ legacy contracts”, but critics have called it “dangerously naive”.
Under the arrangement, Google will train thousands of civil servants in digital skills, including artificial intelligence.
No money is changing hands, which a government source said meant there was no need for a public tender.
Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, unveiled the agreement during a Google-hosted event in London.
He said the aim was to “exploit the full potential of a partnership between government and Google”, including closer ties between the firm’s UK AI division, DeepMind, and government developers.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said Google Cloud would support public services with advanced tech tools, such as databases and machine learning. It claimed this would improve efficiency and reduce cyber risk.
But concerns have mounted over the future of UK public data, with warnings that a deeper reliance on US tech firms could undermine digital sovereignty.
Martha Dark, co-executive director of the non-profit Foxglove, said:
“How is the government going to be able to hold Trump-supporting US big tech giants to any kind of serious account on this, or any other issue, after we’ve given Google the keys to the data kingdom?
“It’s hard to see this as anything other than dangerously naive on the part of Peter Kyle and the government as a whole.”
DSIT has stressed the deal does not give Google permission to use government data for training AI models or other purposes.
The department said data would only be stored abroad if legal and security safeguards were in place.
Google said its clients could control where their data was stored and processed, including through “air-gapped” systems or partnerships with independent infrastructure providers.
Still, some experts say the agreement risks creating a new kind of dependency.
Imogen Parker, associate director at the Ada Lovelace Institute, said:
“The public needs to understand what Google is getting from this partnership and what the return will be for taxpayers in years to come.
“Deals like this might look like good value for money today, but they risk lock-in tomorrow, limiting our ability to seek alternatives in future.”
The agreement gives Google a firm foothold in the UK public sector as digitisation efforts speed up.
Whitehall insiders said the move would help modernise public services, but also warned of growing reliance on a single tech provider.
Kyle said “wherever possible, UK technology companies, large and small, [will] get a fair shot” at future public tech contracts.
But according to departmental registers, he has held 11 meetings with Google representatives since Labour took office.
In response to criticism over his ties to Silicon Valley, Kyle said: “I make absolutely no apologies for meeting with technology companies, that’s the job.”
He argued such engagement was key to child safety on social media, staying ahead on AI, and getting better deals for taxpayers.
Other US tech giants, including Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic, have also been active in UK government partnerships.
During the pandemic, Palantir provided services to the UK government for £1 and last year won a £330 million NHS contract.
DSIT said Google DeepMind would work with technical experts across government to “support them in deploying and diffusing new emerging technologies, driving efficiencies across the public sector, including accelerating scientific discovery”.
Some civil service trials have shown promise.
A recent pilot of Microsoft’s AI Copilot tool, given at a discount, saved 20,000 officials an average of 26 minutes per day. In the trial, 82% said they did not want to return to previous ways of working.
Still, critics argue the government is moving too quickly with too little oversight.
There are also fears that Donald Trump’s US leadership could complicate data-sharing arrangements and trust in transatlantic deals.
The government has said all arrangements comply with public procurement law and could be subject to future commercial agreements.
For now, though, no money has exchanged hands – just access, infrastructure and influence.
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