The Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s artificial intelligence research hub, could be at risk as staff accuse it of having a ‘toxic’ culture.
Earlier this month, a group of whistleblowers filed a complaint with the Charity Commission that raised eight points of concern about the ATI.
This included the possibility that £100 million of government funding could be withdrawn, which might lead to the organisation’s collapse.
This followed a letter co-signed by around 180 staff in 2024 saying they had no confidence in the leadership and commitment to diversity, after the ATI appointed four men into senior roles.
Workplace culture
Peter Kyle, science and technology secretary, has recently called for the institute to refocus its work on defence, also suggesting that the leadership could be changed.
In a letter, he said: “Moving forward, defence and national security projects should form a core of ATI’s activities, and relationships with the UK’s security, defence, and intelligence communities should be strengthened accordingly.”
He added that it was “imperative that the ATI’s leadership reflects the institute’s reformed focus”, and that “careful consideration should be given to the importance of an executive team that possesses a relevant background and sector knowledge to lead this transition”.
Around 50 staff were recently notified they are at risk of redundancy as other projects close, including research on online safety, housing and health inequality.
Jean Innes, ATI chief executive, and Doug Gurr, its chair, sent an internal note to staff this week informing them that a new working group of government officials and ATI employees had met to discuss the new direction.
However, sources have told The Times and The Guardian that staff have been expressing their disquiet to Innes and Gurr, and one has said the government should force it to focus on defence and security and “just shut it down and start again”.
One adviser said: “I think the crisis in terms of people is real. A lot of people are still there because they believe it’s a good, open institution doing valuable public work. But they’re also wondering where their job is going to be.
“I have not seen a plan A for keeping all the staff happy, which would mean keeping some non-defence and security projects. The reason why staff have issued these letters is because they have not seen that.”
The ATI was established with the support of five founding universities: Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, UCL, and Warwick. Some staff have argued that having multiple academic stakeholders has led to its blurred focus.
A spokesperson for ATI told the Guardian: “As we move forward, we’re focused on delivering real-world impact across society’s biggest challenges, including responding to the national need to double down on our work in defence, national security and sovereign capabilities.”
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