Staff Fear UK’s Turing AI Institute is in danger of decline

Employees of the UK National Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI) warned that the charity is in danger of falling, when Technology Secretary Peter Kyle threatened to withdraw his funding.

Workers of the Allen Turing Institute raised a series of “serious and rising concerns” in a whistlebloing complaint submitted to the Charity Commission.

The complaint seen by the BBC accused the leadership of the institute of misusing public funds, overseeing the “toxic internal culture” and failing to transport the charity to the mission of charity.

A government spokesperson said Kyle is “clear that he wants [the Turing Institute] To give real value for money for taxpayers “.

A spokesman for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) stated that the institute is “an independent organization and is consulting changes to resume its work under its Turing 2.0 strategy”.

He said, “There will be changes in his letter in the same way that the institute plays an important role in the security of our national security and positioning it, where the British people hope to happen,” he said.

Kyle urged the Turing Institute to focus on defense research and suggested that the money would be drawn until it turns.

Kyle also wants an overhaul of his leadership. Any change to focus on defense would be an important axis for publicly funded organization, which was given a grant of £ 100M by the previous Orthodox government last year.

Established in 2015 as a major center of UK’s AI Research, the Turing Institute has been shaken by internal dissatisfaction and criticism of its research activities.

In the complaint, the staff said that Kyle’s letter had “a crisis in governance”.

The complaint stated that the government’s £ 100 meter grant was “now the danger of withdrawing, a step that can give rise to the collapse of the institute”.

The Turing Institute told the BBC that it was making sufficient organizational changes to ensure the promise and unique role of “UK National Institute for Data Science and AI”.

“As we move forward, we focus on providing real world effects during the biggest challenges of society, including national security, national security and sovereign abilities,” said a spokesman.

The BBC has been told that the Turing Institute has not received the complaint and has not seen the letter sent by the employees.

A Charity Commission spokesman said: “We are currently assessing the concerns raised about the Allen Turing Institute to determine any regulatory role for us.”

He said that this is in the early stages of this assessment and he has not decided whether a formal legal investigation be initiated.

Employees stated that they had an anonymous “due to a well -established fear of vengeance” anonymous.

The BBC was sent a copy of a complaint in an email signed by the concerned staff members at the “Allen Turing Institute”.

The complaint sets a summary of eight issues.

A risk warning for funding, complaint stated that the Turing Institute’s “ongoing delivery failures, government instability and lack of transparency have given rise to serious concerns between its public and private funds”.

This is “accusing a series of spending decisions that lack transparency, average result and evidence of trustee oversight”.

And in other allegations, the complaint has “accused of chaired by an internal culture that has been defined by fear and guilty”.

The complaint stated that concerns were raised with the Leadership Team of the Turing Institute – in which Chairman Dug Gur – and claimed that “no meaningful action has been taken”.

The Alan Turing Institute describes itself as the national body of the UK for data science and AI. It was founded in 2015 by former Prime Minister David Cameron.

The institute has been in the upheaval for months to cut dozens of jobs and scrap research projects.

At the end of 2024, a letter was signed by employees of 93 employees, expressing lack of trust in their leadership team.

In March, in July 2023, Jean Ins appointed Chief Executive Jean Ins told the Financial Times to the Turing Institute to modernize and focus on AI projects.

Until some time ago, its work has focused on AI and Data Science Research in three main areas – environmental stability, health and national security.

Recent research projects listed on their website include using artificial technology in weather prediction, and one of the four children that now uses techniques for study and play.

Others working with the Turing Institute told the BBC that there were concerns within the comprehensive research community about its direction.

In July, Professor Helen Margets and Cosmina Dorobantu, a long-time co-director of a successful program, who helped the public sector use AI, left their positions.

Former Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Stark left the organization in May after eight months.

And some of its remaining employees describe a toxic internal culture.

The AI sector is an important part of the government’s strategy to develop the UK economy – investing in the development of data centers and supercomputers and encouraging large technical firms to invest.

Research and development of this rapidly developed technology is also important.

In his letter to Turing last month, Kyle said that promoting the UK AI capabilities was “important” for national security and should be at the core of the activities of the institute.

The State Secretary of Science and Technology said that the “long -term money system” of ATI could be reviewed next year.