UK public sector spend on AI, 2022-2026
Every AI contract UK public bodies have published since the release of ChatGPT.
- AI-related procurements
- 2,008
- public bodies buying
- 615
- awarded across 1,470 contracts, framework ceilings left out
- £1.83bn
- procurements searched to find them
- 581,864
By Seamus White, founder of BidSkim. Notices from January 2022 to August 2026. Licence CC BY 4.0.
Eight findings on AI in UK public procurement
The full report has the sector tables, the value rules and the classification method.
UK firms win 67% of the contracts; overseas firms hold 65% of the money
UK suppliers won 978 of the 1,470 awards with a published value and hold £639.6m. Suppliers headquartered or owned overseas won 485 and hold £1.19bn. Most of that is a few large contracts: Palantir’s agreements with the Ministry of Defence and NHS England, and HPE’s hardware for Isambard-AI in Bristol.
Data table
| Supplier group | Valued awards | Share of awards | Published value | Share of value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK suppliers | 978 | 67% | £639.6m | 35% |
| Overseas suppliers | 485 | 33% | £1.19bn | 65% |
| SMEs | 777 | 53% | £300.5m | 16% |
| Large companies | 693 | 47% | £1.53bn | 84% |
SMEs win 53% of AI contracts and hold 16% of the money
SMEs won 777 awards worth £300.5m. Their share of contracts has risen every year, from 42% in 2022 to 59% so far in 2026. They win 58% of contracts under £100k and 21% of those over £10m.
90% of the money going to US companies comes from defence, health and universities
Those three sectors hold £1.16bn of the £1.83bn. The largest flows are Palantir’s two agreements with the Ministry of Defence, the NHS Federated Data Platform and HPE’s hardware for Isambard-AI. Councils and central government buy mostly from UK companies.
UK companies owned from abroad are counted under their owner’s country, as in Figure 20.
Data table
| Buyer sector | Supplier country | Published value |
|---|---|---|
| Defence and security | US companies | £437.2m |
| Defence and security | UK companies | £71.3m |
| Defence and security | European companies | £84.3m |
| Defence and security | Rest of the world | £1.8m |
| Defence and security | Joint or unnamed | £350k |
| Central government | US companies | £53.4m |
| Central government | UK companies | £262.2m |
| Central government | European companies | £35.4m |
| Central government | Rest of the world | £4.8m |
| Health | US companies | £229.9m |
| Health | UK companies | £52.8m |
| Health | European companies | £13.7m |
| Health | Rest of the world | £6.4m |
| Education and universities | US companies | £190.3m |
| Education and universities | UK companies | £67.6m |
| Education and universities | European companies | £6.2m |
| Education and universities | Rest of the world | £1.9m |
| Local government | US companies | £10.0m |
| Local government | UK companies | £79.3m |
| Local government | European companies | £4.1m |
| Local government | Rest of the world | £6.7m |
| Police and justice | US companies | £26.8m |
| Police and justice | UK companies | £48.2m |
| Police and justice | European companies | £2.2m |
| Police and justice | Rest of the world | £2.5m |
| Police and justice | Joint or unnamed | £1.5m |
| Research bodies | US companies | £317k |
| Research bodies | UK companies | £8.0m |
| Research bodies | European companies | £2.3m |
| Research bodies | Rest of the world | £44.9m |
| Housing | US companies | £4.6m |
| Housing | UK companies | £17.8m |
| Housing | European companies | £6.8m |
| Other public bodies | US companies | £923k |
| Other public bodies | UK companies | £5.9m |
| Other public bodies | European companies | £4.6m |
| Other public bodies | Rest of the world | £779k |
| Regulators | US companies | £1.7m |
| Regulators | UK companies | £7.8m |
| Regulators | European companies | £873k |
| Regulators | Rest of the world | £150k |
| Utilities and energy | US companies | £325k |
| Utilities and energy | UK companies | £7.7m |
| Utilities and energy | European companies | £945k |
| Utilities and energy | Rest of the world | £329k |
| Transport | US companies | £1.3m |
| Transport | UK companies | £5.1m |
| Transport | Rest of the world | £316k |
| Transport | Joint or unnamed | £669k |
| Devolved government | US companies | £60k |
| Devolved government | UK companies | £5.9m |
| Devolved government | European companies | £300k |
Defence buys 88% of its AI from overseas suppliers
Defence and security holds £594.9m, 32% of all published value. £315.8m of that is Palantir’s two enterprise agreements with the Ministry of Defence, from 2022 and 2025.
Data table
| Buyer sector | Published value | Overseas suppliers | UK suppliers | Joint or unnamed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence and security | £594.9m | 88% | 12% | 0% |
| Central government | £355.8m | 26% | 74% | 0% |
| Health | £302.8m | 83% | 17% | 0% |
| Education and universities | £266.0m | 75% | 25% | 0% |
| Local government | £100.1m | 21% | 79% | 0% |
| Police and justice | £81.1m | 39% | 59% | 2% |
| Research bodies | £55.5m | 86% | 14% | 0% |
| Housing | £29.1m | 39% | 61% | 0% |
| Other | £12.3m | 52% | 48% | 0% |
| Regulators | £10.5m | 26% | 74% | 0% |
| Utilities and energy | £9.3m | 17% | 83% | 0% |
| Transport | £7.3m | 22% | 69% | 9% |
| Devolved government | £6.2m | 6% | 94% | 0% |
Seven of the 11 top AI suppliers by contracts won are SMEs
The seven are Beam, VivaCity, Voicescape, Cambridge Spark, ICS.AI, Mobysoft and Gaist. Most of the busiest sell one tool to many councils, such as Beam’s transcription for social workers, VivaCity’s traffic sensors and Voicescape’s tenant analytics.
Data table
| Rank | Supplier | Awards | Published value | Main buyer sector | Awards in that sector | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beam | 77 | £10.6m | Local government | 91% | SME |
| 2 | VivaCity | 47 | £4.9m | Local government | 98% | SME |
| 3 | Voicescape | 39 | £7.9m | Local government | 44% | SME |
| 4 | Faculty | 24 | £27.8m | Central government | 38% | Large company |
| 5 | Cambridge Spark | 23 | £6.6m | Central government | 43% | SME |
| 5 | ICS.AI | 23 | £18.9m | Local government | 83% | SME |
| 5 | Mobysoft | 23 | £9.4m | Local government | 74% | SME |
| 8 | Softcat | 22 | £6.4m | Health | 27% | Large company |
| 9 | Gaist | 19 | £14.0m | Local government | 100% | SME |
| 9 | Palantir | 19 | £553.0m | Health | 42% | Large company |
| 9 | Vaisala | 19 | £2.6m | Local government | 100% | Large company |
| 12 | Frazer-Nash | 15 | £7.4m | Defence and security | 53% | Large company |
| 12 | Phoenix Software | 15 | £2.5m | Police and justice | 40% | Large company |
| 14 | Capgemini | 14 | £33.8m | Central government | 71% | Large company |
| 15 | QA | 12 | £7.4m | Central government | 42% | Large company |
| 16 | Dataminr | 9 | £677k | Health | 33% | Large company |
| 16 | Deloitte | 9 | £5.6m | Central government | 22% | Large company |
| 16 | Netcall | 9 | £873k | Health | 44% | Large company |
US companies hold 46% of the money, 52% counting the UK firms they own
Most of it is Palantir, £553.0m, and HPE’s hardware for Isambard-AI, £175.9m. The UK firms with US owners include SeeByte (Battelle), PA Consulting (Jacobs) and CACI. Faculty is counted under Ireland, where its owner Accenture is registered.
Data table
| Supplier country | Headquartered there | UK companies owned from there | Published value | Share of value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US companies | £847.5m | £109.2m | £956.7m | 52% |
| UK companies | £639.6m | £0 | £639.6m | 35% |
| European companies | £131.4m | £30.4m | £161.7m | 9% |
| Rest of the world | £32.0m | £38.5m | £70.5m | 4% |
| Joint or unnamed | £2.5m | £0 | £2.5m | 0% |
Palantir holds 30% of the money, more than the next four suppliers combined
Its 17 contracts with a published value total £553.0m, where the typical AI contract is £106k. The two largest are the Ministry of Defence enterprise agreement, £240.6m, and the NHS Federated Data Platform, £182.2m.
Data table
| Supplier | Valued awards | Published value | Main buyer sector | Value from that sector | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palantir | 17 | £553.0m | Defence and security | 59% | Large company |
| Quantexa | 5 | £186.0m | Central government | 100% | Large company |
| HPE | 1 | £175.9m | Education and universities | 100% | Large company |
| SeeByte | 4 | £54.8m | Defence and security | 100% | Large company |
| Robertson Construction | 1 | £53.6m | Education and universities | 100% | Large company |
| Capgemini | 12 | £33.8m | Defence and security | 61% | Large company |
| TKMS Atlas | 3 | £32.2m | Defence and security | 100% | Large company |
| iProov | 5 | £29.2m | Central government | 60% | SME |
| Russell WBHO | 1 | £28.7m | Research bodies | 100% | Large company |
| Faculty | 24 | £27.8m | Central government | 37% | Large company |
| MSubs | 4 | £23.4m | Defence and security | 71% | SME |
| PA Consulting | 7 | £21.9m | Defence and security | 97% | Large company |
| IBM | 6 | £21.1m | Central government | 99% | Large company |
| Hadean | 1 | £20.0m | Defence and security | 100% | SME |
| Trustmarque | 3 | £19.7m | Police and justice | 100% | Large company |
| ICS.AI | 20 | £18.9m | Local government | 92% | SME |
| Capgemini-led consortium | 1 | £17.5m | Defence and security | 100% | Large company |
| Lenovo | 1 | £15.8m | Research bodies | 100% | Large company |
| Adarga | 6 | £14.9m | Defence and security | 98% | SME |
| Gaist | 16 | £14.0m | Local government | 100% | SME |
| CACI | 1 | £13.0m | Police and justice | 100% | Large company |
| Dell | 4 | £12.4m | Education and universities | 100% | Large company |
| Accurx | 4 | £12.3m | Health | 100% | SME |
| NPL | 3 | £10.7m | Central government | 98% | Large company |
| Beam | 76 | £10.6m | Local government | 96% | SME |
Councils buy the most AI; defence holds the most money
The Ministry of Defence alone has 114 AI procurements worth £541.0m. Councils publish 475 between them, but the typical council contract is £89k, against £250k in defence.
Data table
| Buyer sector | AI-related procurements | Published value |
|---|---|---|
| Local government | 475 | £100.1m |
| Central government | 322 | £355.8m |
| Health | 316 | £302.8m |
| Defence and security | 200 | £594.9m |
| Education and universities | 142 | £266.0m |
| Police and justice | 135 | £81.1m |
| Research bodies | 105 | £55.5m |
| Other | 96 | £12.3m |
| Regulators | 63 | £10.5m |
| Transport | 41 | £7.3m |
| Housing | 40 | £29.1m |
| Utilities and energy | 39 | £9.3m |
| Devolved government | 34 | £6.2m |
More from the report
Data table
| Award date | Buyer | Published value |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-02-01 | Ministry of Defence | £833k |
| 2022-03-03 | Ministry of Defence | £10.0m |
| 2022-05-31 | Ministry of Defence | £250k |
| 2022-06-20 | NHS North of England Commissioning Support | £125k |
| 2022-08-25 | NHS England | £11.5m |
| 2022-09-22 | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | £4.5m |
| 2022-11-25 | Ministry of Defence | £75.2m |
| 2022-12-12 | NHS Shared Business Services | £138k |
| 2023-01-03 | NHS North of England Commissioning Support | £825k |
| 2023-03-27 | London Ambulance Service NHS Trust | £84k |
| 2023-06-09 | NHS England | £24.9m |
| 2023-11-22 | NHS England | £182.2m |
| 2024-09-20 | Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | £412k |
| 2025-01-30 | Coventry City Council | £500k |
| 2025-12-30 | Ministry of Defence | £240.6m |
| 2026-01-30 | Metropolitan Police Service | £490k |
| 2026-01-30 | Financial Conduct Authority | £375k |
Data table
| Buyer | AI-related procurements | Published value |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Defence | 114 | £541.0m |
| NHS England | 18 | £230.8m |
| University of Bristol | 7 | £187.5m |
| HM Revenue & Customs | 17 | £179.1m |
| DSIT | 96 | £55.1m |
| University of Edinburgh | 10 | £54.8m |
| UKRI | 21 | £52.3m |
| Home Office | 49 | £44.3m |
| Work and Pensions | 28 | £30.3m |
| Dstl | 62 | £22.5m |
737 of the 2,008 AI-related procurements (37%) never use an AI term, so a keyword search of the portals would not find them.
Data table
| Category | Procurements | With no AI term | Share missed by a keyword search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensing & physical-world vision | 396 | 300 | 76% |
| Data science, models & platforms | 239 | 126 | 53% |
| Governance, security & legal | 88 | 43 | 49% |
| Casework, documents & automation | 291 | 106 | 36% |
| Research, safety & innovation funding | 261 | 62 | 24% |
| Clinical & health AI | 213 | 47 | 22% |
| Citizen & customer contact | 123 | 20 | 16% |
| Productivity licences & readiness | 94 | 13 | 14% |
| AI computing infrastructure and enabling works | 42 | 5 | 12% |
| Advisory & delivery partners | 89 | 6 | 7% |
| Skills & people | 148 | 5 | 3% |
Data table
| Award year | SME awards | Awards with a published value | SME share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 82 | 195 | 42% |
| 2023 | 116 | 242 | 48% |
| 2024 | 165 | 305 | 54% |
| 2025 | 236 | 424 | 56% |
| 2026 (January to August) | 177 | 302 | 59% |
2026 covers January to August.
Data table
| Year | Procurements stating a technique | Generative or language-model | Generative share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 128 | 4 | 3% |
| 2023 | 139 | 14 | 10% |
| 2024 | 205 | 54 | 26% |
| 2025 | 259 | 68 | 26% |
| 2026 (January to August) | 225 | 69 | 31% |
The eight largest contracts are 54% of all published AI contract value.
Data table
| Buyer | Supplier | Published value | Share of all AI contract value | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Defence | PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES UK, LTD. | £240.6m | 13.1% | Notice |
| NHS England | PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES UK, LTD. | £182.2m | 10.0% | Notice |
| University of Bristol | Hewlett-Packard Limited (trading as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise) | £175.9m | 9.6% | Notice |
| HM Revenue & Customs | Quantexa Ltd | £175.0m | 9.6% | Notice |
| Ministry of Defence | PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES UK, LTD. | £75.2m | 4.1% | Notice |
| University of Edinburgh | Robertson Construction | £53.6m | 2.9% | Notice |
| Ministry of Defence | SeeByte Ltd | £50.0m | 2.7% | Notice |
| Ministry of Defence | Atlas Elektronik UK Ltd | £31.8m | 1.7% | Notice |
Data table
| Project or programme | Valued procurements | Published value |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol: Isambard-AI and data facility | 3 | £187.5m |
| Edinburgh: national supercomputer | 2 | £54.1m |
| Daresbury: Hartree Centre | 3 | £45.3m |
| Other facilities and shared compute | 4 | £2.2m |
| AIRR programme-wide | 2 | £361k |
| Culham AI data-centre programme | 2 | £110k |
Data table
| Category | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (January to August) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensing & physical-world vision | 71 | 84 | 83 | 87 | 71 |
| Casework, documents & automation | 20 | 26 | 50 | 108 | 87 |
| Research, safety & innovation funding | 57 | 37 | 83 | 57 | 27 |
| Data science, models & platforms | 39 | 50 | 49 | 62 | 39 |
| Clinical & health AI | 25 | 35 | 44 | 52 | 57 |
| Skills & people | 9 | 11 | 25 | 51 | 52 |
| Other categories | 50 | 60 | 65 | 138 | 147 |
| All AI-related procurements | 271 | 303 | 399 | 555 | 480 |
Data table
| Category | Kind of work | Procurements |
|---|---|---|
| Sensing & physical-world vision | Operational tools | 396 |
| Casework, documents & automation | Operational tools | 291 |
| Research, safety & innovation funding | Research and funding | 261 |
| Data science, models & platforms | Operational tools | 239 |
| Clinical & health AI | Operational tools | 213 |
| Skills & people | Skills and people | 148 |
| Citizen & customer contact | Operational tools | 123 |
| Productivity licences & readiness | Operational tools | 94 |
| Advisory & delivery partners | Advice and delivery | 89 |
| Governance, security & legal | Operational tools | 88 |
| AI computing infrastructure and enabling works | Infrastructure | 42 |
| Commercial vehicles | Frameworks | 24 |
Data table
| Buyer sector | Sector published value | Largest contract: buyer | Supplier | Value | Share of sector value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence and security | £594.9m | Ministry of Defence | Palantir | £240.6m | 40% |
| Central government | £355.8m | HM Revenue & Customs | Quantexa | £175.0m | 49% |
| Health | £302.8m | NHS England | Palantir | £182.2m | 60% |
| Education and universities | £266.0m | University of Bristol | HPE | £175.9m | 66% |
| Local government | £100.1m | Blackpool Council | Gaist Limited | £12.0m | 12% |
| Police and justice | £81.1m | Crown Prosecution Service | Trustmarque Solutions Ltd | £19.6m | 24% |
Data table
| Buyer sector | Valued awards | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defence and security | 137 | £97k | £250k | £750k |
| Housing | 35 | £81k | £217k | £445k |
| Police and justice | 97 | £51k | £140k | £398k |
| Central government | 259 | £50k | £136k | £402k |
| Utilities and energy | 22 | £61k | £129k | £209k |
| Transport | 25 | £50k | £120k | £300k |
| Other | 48 | £58k | £112k | £315k |
| Health | 229 | £50k | £110k | £284k |
| Research bodies | 63 | £30k | £100k | £230k |
| Education and universities | 96 | £51k | £98k | £215k |
| Local government | 384 | £48k | £89k | £185k |
| Regulators | 57 | £37k | £73k | £106k |
UK government AI contracts: questions and answers
How much has the UK public sector spent on AI contracts?
UK public bodies published £1.83bn of AI-related contract awards between January 2022 and August 2026, across 1,470 awards with a published value. It is the value of contracts awarded, not money paid. Over the same period 615 public bodies published 2,008 AI-related procurements.
Does the total include framework agreements?
No. Only the contracts awarded under a framework are counted. A framework ceiling is a spending limit shared by many buyers over several years, so it is not a purchase.
How many AI contracts do UK public bodies publish each year?
271 in 2022, 303 in 2023, 399 in 2024 and 555 in 2025. The first eight months of 2026 had 480, a pace of about 720 a year.
Which companies win the most UK government AI contracts?
By number of awards, Beam (77), VivaCity (47) and Voicescape (39). Seven of the 18 most frequent winners are SMEs. By published value, Palantir (£553.0m), Quantexa (£186.0m) and HPE (£175.9m).
How much UK public sector AI money goes to Palantir?
Palantir holds £553.0m across 17 awards with a published value, 30% of all published AI contract value and more than any other supplier. Its two largest agreements are with the Ministry of Defence (£240.6m) and NHS England for the Federated Data Platform (£182.2m).
How much UK public AI spending goes to overseas companies?
Suppliers headquartered overseas or under foreign control hold 65% of published AI contract value, £1.19bn, from 33% of valued awards. UK suppliers won 67% of the awards and hold 35% of the value. US companies alone hold 46%, £847.5m, and 52% counting the UK companies they own.
How much UK public sector AI money goes to US companies?
US-headquartered suppliers hold £847.5m, 46% of the £1.83bn of published AI contract value since January 2022. Counting UK companies with US owners, such as SeeByte and PA Consulting, it is £956.7m, 52%. Most of it is Palantir (£553.0m) and HPE’s hardware for Isambard-AI (£175.9m).
Which public bodies buy the most AI?
The Ministry of Defence is the largest buyer by number and by value, with 114 AI-related procurements and £541.0m in published value. Next by number are the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (96) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (62). Next by value are NHS England (£230.8m), the University of Bristol (£187.5m) and HM Revenue & Customs (£179.1m). As a sector, local government publishes the most AI procurements, 475.
What kind of AI are UK public bodies buying?
Mostly tools in use. Research and evaluation fell from 23% of AI-related procurements in 2022 to 6% in 2026. The largest categories are sensing & physical-world vision (396), casework, documents & automation (291) and research, safety & innovation funding (261). In 2026, 31% of procurements that state a technique name a generative or language-model one, up from 3% in 2022.
Do SMEs win UK public sector AI contracts?
SMEs win most of the contracts but little of the money. They won 53% of valued awards (777) and hold 16% of published value (£300.5m). Half of all AI contracts are under £106k.
How were the AI contracts identified?
From every notice on Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland and Sell2Wales. 16,870 candidate procurements were read in full and classified against a written definition of AI-related work. 737 of the 2,008 included procurements (37%) never use an AI term, so a keyword search of the portals would miss them.
How should this report be cited?
White, S. (2026) Artificial intelligence in UK public procurement, 2022 to 2026. BidSkim Research, Procurement Data Series No. 1. Version 2026-10-07. Available at: https://bidskim.com/research/ai-in-uk-public-procurement-2022-2026. The report, figures and dataset are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
How the AI contracts were identified
A procurement counts as AI-related when the thing bought is or depends on a machine-learning, language-model, speech, vision or autonomy capability; when AI is the subject of the work; or when the purchase provides computing for AI. Anything a looser definition would sweep in is kept in the dataset as adjacent and excluded from every figure.
- The record. 581,864 procurements: every notice on Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland and Sell2Wales from September 2021 to August 2026, collected daily and grouped so one purchase is counted once.
- Retrieval. Plain-language descriptions of 44 kinds of AI work were matched against every notice, alongside AI terms, product names and a list of suppliers whose only product is AI. 16,870 candidates were read in full. 737 of the 2,008 included procurements never use an AI term.
- Classification. Each candidate was read by Claude Opus 5 under the fixed definition and rule set, at least three times, and the author ruled on boundary cases. Every kept row carries a quoted evidence string and a source link.
- Value. The total counts contracts that were actually awarded, with the value taken from the award notice, including contracts placed under frameworks. Framework ceilings are left out: a ceiling is a spending limit shared by many buyers, not a purchase. Awards with no published value are left out, so the total is a minimum.
Download the data and cite the report
The report, the figures and the chart tables are free to download. The full row-level CSV, with every procurement, its category, value basis, evidence string and source link, is available on request with a work or education email, together with the per-buyer table, supplier assessments and evidence pack. A short script reproduces every published total from the CSV.
Briefings, interviews and data for local or trade coverage: [email protected]. Corrections to [email protected] with the procurement ID and source URL. Material changes get a new version and a correction note.