AI minister to attend cabinet, as DSIT axed
Tech.eu John Reynolds ● Covered by 6 sources
UK's new PM handed AI a cabinet seat, then axed the whole tech department. Kanishka Narayan's in; DSIT's out, swallowed into a mega business ministry.
Based on reporting by Tech.eu, John Reynolds — read the original for the full story.
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Andy Burnham's first big move as UK prime minister landed with a strange mix of signals. On one hand, he elevated Kanishka Narayan, previously a junior minister for AI and online safety, into a cabinet-attending role dedicated to artificial intelligence. On the other, he dismantled the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as a standalone department, folding it into a new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade under Jonathan Reynolds.
Narayan wasted no time framing his promotion as a statement of intent, posting on X that being asked to attend cabinet was a sign of the prime minister's "deep commitment to AI's importance," and calling AI likely the most significant technology in human history. Bold words for someone whose old department just got broken up and scattered across Whitehall, with some of DSIT's responsibilities handed to other departments entirely.
The reshuffle claimed two senior figures who had shaped Britain's tech and science agenda. Liz Kendall, who led DSIT, stepped down, and in her resignation statement she pointed to ONS figures showing science and technology as key drivers of UK economic growth, arguing the momentum needs protecting to build the jobs and businesses of the future. Peter Kyle, who had headed the Department for Business and Trade, also left his post. Reynolds, notably, had already run DBT back in 2024 before moving on a year later, and now returns to a version of it merged with the old DSIT brief.
Lord Patrick Vallance's exit added another layer to the departures. He stepped down as science minister, citing personal reasons after nearly a decade in government roles including chief scientific adviser and, more recently, minister for nuclear.
Rumours about DSIT's possible axing had already stirred pushback from the tech community before Burnham confirmed the changes, and it's easy to see why. Creating a cabinet-level AI minister sounds like elevation, but pairing it with the disappearance of the department that actually built AI and tech policy reads less like a coherent strategy and more like a reshuffle that happened to land on AI as the convenient headline.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Handing someone a cabinet seat for AI while quietly dissolving the department that actually did the policy work is the kind of move that looks great in a press release and terrible on an org chart. Kendall's parting warning about science and tech driving growth wasn't just a farewell note, it was a shot across Burnham's bow, and the tech sector would be right to treat this reshuffle with suspicion rather than applause. Titles are cheap; structure is where governments actually deliver, or don't.
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