Britain Must Embrace Bold AI Innovation, Not Chase US Giants, Warns Welsh AI Pioneer

By Huw Thomas, Suraj Karowa/ANW
Cardiff, November 28, 2025 –

Llion Jones was part of the small team at Google that unlocked generative AI’s human-like ability to write, reason and create

In a stark warning to UK policy makers, Llion Jones, the Welsh-born computer scientist behind one of AI’s foundational breakthroughs, has urged Britain to abandon dreams of outscaling American and Chinese tech titans.

Instead, he calls for a “brave” pivot toward speculative, differentiated research that could carve out a unique niche in the global AI race.

Jones, raised in the rural idylls of Bangor and Abergynolwyn in Gwynedd, north Wales, co-authored the seminal 2017 paper “Attention Is All You Need.”

This work introduced the Transformer architecture – the “T” in ChatGPT – revolutionizing generative AI’s capacity for human-like writing, reasoning, and creation.

Business secretary Peter Kyle MP met Google staff at an AI event for firms in Cardiff

From his base in Tokyo, where he serves as chief technology officer at Sakana AI, the startup he co-founded with a fellow ex-Googler, Jones is now channeling his expertise into uncharted frontiers of AI.

Speaking exclusively to BBC Wales at a TED AI conference in San Francisco, Jones dismissed head-on competition with “hyper-scalers” like Google, OpenAI, and their Chinese counterparts as futile.

“I think a country like Wales, or even Britain in general, is not going to beat the hyper-scalers, right? They’re not going to beat America and China in scaling up these AIs,”

he said, his hands gesturing emphatically against a backdrop of honeycomb-patterned stage design.

While AI computing requires considerable power, the work to improve Wales’s grid connectivity remains controversial

“It doesn’t make any sense to be a part of that race, because you’re not going to win.”

Sakana AI, Jones explained, stands apart by prioritizing “speculative research” over the monetization frenzy gripping Big Tech.

“I’m trying to make the environment to give people the freedom to do the research they want, and I’m going to try and protect it as long as I can,” he added.

“I do genuinely think that we are unique in that respect right now.”

This ethos, he argues, mirrors what Wales and the UK should adopt: fostering ecosystems where academics and startups pursue long-shot innovations, free from the pressure of immediate commercial returns.

TED AI

Mr Jones says the current wave of “sycophantic” AI responses needed fixing

The message resonates amid Wales’ burgeoning AI ambitions.

The Welsh government’s AI Plan for Wales, unveiled earlier this year, pledges investments in innovation, public sector skills, and ethical guidelines to harness AI for economic growth and enhanced services.

North and south Wales have been designated AI growth zones, aiming to equip citizens with the tools to “thrive” in an AI-driven world.

Yet, Jones warns, true differentiation requires risk-taking. “What can you do? You can embrace the idea that you can do something different.

And that involves being a little bit more brave,” he said. “It’s a bit of a longer bet, but if it pays off then you’re back in the race, right?”

Businesses across Wales are already heeding the call, integrating AI to slash workloads and boost productivity.

At a recent Google-hosted event in Cardiff, alongside UK Business Secretary Peter Kyle MP, firms explored AI’s practical applications – from film set efficiencies to digital transformations in everyday operations.

Kyle, shaking hands amid a LEGO-strewn table symbolizing creative “AI Quick Builds,” emphasized the technology’s versatility.

“AI is not one thing; it can be used in so many different situations,” he told attendees in the sunlit venue with exposed brick walls.

“Some of the businesses here are doing work on film sets, they’re doing work in the lived environment… and on digital transformation.”

The potential payoff is staggering. Kyle cited data showing a mere 1% productivity hike among small businesses could unleash £240 billion in economic activity across the UK.

“If this is incorporated throughout the economy, it has a transformative impact,” he said. “It means that more of the mundane tasks are taken away, a lot of the running of business is actually expedited.”

But ambition collides with infrastructure realities. AI’s voracious appetite for computing power demands a robust electricity grid – one Wales sorely lacks in rural heartlands.

Plans to erect towering pylons across mid Wales, spearheaded by Green GEN Cymru, have ignited fierce protests from communities fearing scarred landscapes.

Beneath partly cloudy skies, green fields dotted with grazing cows now frame these steel sentinels, symbols of progress and contention alike.

Stuart George, Green GEN Cymru’s chief executive, defends the upgrades as non-negotiable.

“Mid Wales is chronically under-served by modern grid infrastructure,” he said.

Protests notwithstanding, he argues the benefits – from powering electric vehicles and home heating to enabling data centers – far outweigh the disruptions.

“What we need to be better at is telling the story of the benefit that can come from this,” George added.

“There’s so much more benefit that comes from the modernisation of grid infrastructure.”

Without swift action, George warns, Wales risks ceding ground in the AI stakes.

“The ability for businesses to decarbonise and also grow and develop within mid Wales is currently impossible,” he said.

Commitments to net-zero electricity mean grid expansion is “an inevitability,” forcing politicians into tough choices. “They have to make the big decisions and they have to make them quickly.”

Jones, ever the forward-thinker, also critiqued the here-and-now of AI chatbots.

Trained to appease users, they’ve devolved into “sycophantic” echo chambers.

“Unfortunately, humans love being told that they’re right,” he observed from the TED stage, his name blazing on a massive screen.

“This means that a lot of people can become misled… So we need to fix that problem. We need to make AIs that can actually disagree with you, and actually correct you.”

As Wales navigates this crossroads – blending Welsh ingenuity with global tech tides – Jones’ words echo a rallying cry. By betting on boldness over brute scale, the nation could yet redefine the AI narrative, turning underdog status into unexpected victory.