{"slug": "tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down", "title": "Tony Blair Wants Governments to Embrace AI, Not Slow It Down", "summary": "The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change released a paper on 22 September 2026 calling on governments to rebuild their states around AI rather than slow its development, arguing that \"countries cannot protect themselves from AI by ignoring it.\" The paper does not address the institute's tech-industry funding, including roughly £257m in donations and pledges from Oracle founder Larry Ellison since 2021, and campaign group Foxglove criticised the UK government in February 2026 for collaborating with the think tank on AI implementation. Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair said in a video interview posted on X that \"this AI revolution will be happening to you and you won't be guiding it.", "body_md": "# Tony Blair Wants Governments to Embrace AI, Not Slow It Down\n\n## Nothing to say on his think tank's links to the tech industry.\n\n### by [Soraya Kishtwari](https://novaramedia.com/contributor/soraya-kishtwari/)\n\n### 22 September 2026\n\nTony Blair’s think tank has called for governments to embrace AI and rebuild their states around the new technology despite the risks posed to workers, societies and security.\n\nThe former Labour prime minister, who has multiple ties to the tech sector, has backed a new paper arguing that countries risk being left behind if they do not adapt to the AI era.\n\nBlair’s vision for AI-powered governance was set out in a [paper](https://institute.global/insights/politics-and-governance/leading-in-the-age-of-ai-how-to-build-an-ai-enabled-state?) released by his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI).\n\n“Countries cannot protect themselves from AI by ignoring it,” the paper argues. “The only meaningful path is to engage with it, building institutions capable of operating at the speed and complexity of the world now emerging, and harness AI to transform how the state itself works.”\n\nThe institute’s paper does not make reference to Blair’s own relationship with the tech industry, including the hundreds of millions of dollars in funding his institute has received from tech moguls.\n\nLarry Ellison, the billionaire founder of software company Oracle, which is heavily invested in infrastructure driving the AI boom, has given [around £257m in donations and pledges](https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/blair-and-the-billionaire/) to Blair’s think tank since 2021.\n\nIn February, campaign group [Foxglove criticised the UK government](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/25/trtreasury-blair-thinktank-advise-on-ai-use-public-services) for collaborating with Blair’s think tank on AI implementation, stating: “Ministers seem to be unable to spot a potential conflict of interest which is blindingly obvious to everyone else.”\n\nDespite acknowledging the risks to labour markets, the dangers of concentrating technological power and increased exposure to biological threats, the answer is not to slow development but instead to “harness and control it”, he wrote.\n\n“This AI revolution will be happening to you and you won’t be guiding it,” [Blair added in a video interview posted on X](https://x.com/InstituteGC/status/2101953406352924927).\n\nEarlier this month, a handful of AI executives [called for a global slowdown](https://www.wired.com/story/ai-leaders-are-calling-for-a-slowdown-trumps-team-says-its-on-them/) in AI development in response to warnings about the existential threat posed by the new technology. However, other [tech leaders – including the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia – questioned](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/technology/silicon-valley-ai-slowdown.html) if Silicon Valley bosses were motivated more by safety concerns or by their fears of increased competition.\n\nSoraya Kishtwari is a journalist and editor.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down", "canonical_source": "https://novaramedia.com/2026/09/22/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down/", "published_at": "2026-09-22 16:17:05+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-22 16:27:50.466457+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Tony Blair", "Tony Blair Institute for Global Change", "Larry Ellison", "Oracle", "Foxglove", "Nvidia", "United Kingdom", "X"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/tony-blair-wants-governments-to-embrace-ai-not-slow-it-down.jsonld"}}