Under new prime minister Andy Burnham, the UK government's decision to dismantle the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has left many in the UK's tech sector asking: where has DSIT actually gone?
Before the reshuffle was confirmed, startup founders, investors and policy experts warned that breaking up the three-year-old department could derail the momentum behind Britain's AI agenda.
But ministers insist the changes are actually about putting technology at the heart of government. So how will the revamp work?
Did DSIT get absorbed into the business department?
The biggest winner is arguably the new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), led by newly-appointed finance minister Jonathan Reynolds.
The beefed-up department inherits the science and innovation brief, responsibility for emerging technology sectors and the Investment Security Unit, bringing research policy closer to industrial strategy and commercialisation.
The Sovereign AI unit, responsible for investing in home-grown AI capabilities, is also expected to fall within DBSIT. As is the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), which funds R&D for scientific breakthroughs and UKRI, which funds research and innovation.
While much of DSIT's science portfolio has moved into DBIST, AI minister Kanishka Narayan will work jointly between the OPMC (the newly created office for the prime minister and cabinet) and DBIST.
Narayan will also attend cabinet, a move which represents a significant elevation for the AI brief inside Whitehall. The move appears intended to signal that AI is now being treated as a cross-government priority, akin to national security or economic strategy, with decisionmaking taking place closer to the prime minister.
The AI Security Institute (AISI) is reported to have moved within the cabinet.
What’s gone to DCMS?
Another surprise came in the form of an enlarged Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which picks up much of DSIT's digital portfolio.
That includes online safety, digital identity, digital inclusion, cyber resilience and other "digital foundations" like telecoms.
The department is also expected to become home to services such as Gov.UK, and wider transformation efforts, making it responsible for much of the government's digital infrastructure.
What else?
The reshuffle reflects a belief inside government that science belongs closer to economic policy, AI should sit at the heart of government and that digital services fit naturally alongside media and communications.
But some questions remain unanswered.
For example, it remains unclear where responsibility for data protection, the National Data Library and oversight of the Information Commissioner's Office will sit. Likewise, the government has yet to clarify which department owns AI regulation, despite assigning responsibility for AI strategy, adoption and safety.
For startups, the new structure matters less than whether departments can work together. With AI, science and digital policy now split across Whitehall, coordination may prove just as important as the reshuffle itself.
