Apple chief flaunts UK prestige as Big Tech prepares lobbying thrust
Big Tech firms up lobbying push against prospect of regulation
As the UK prepares to chart its Brexit course with its own tech regulations, the European officials responsible for most UK tech law are preparing for more stringent controls than ever.
Apple chief Tim Cook spearheaded promotion of the firm's new UK headquarters yesterday, with a visit to London that coincided with the launch of a Big Tech push to lobby the UK government over its plans to regulate artificial intelligence.
The firm produced its first official pictures of Apple Battersea Power Station, and released a statement claiming it had generated 550,000 jobs in the UK, a booming economy in iPhone apps, and 8,000 jobs, working directly for Apple at offices in Cambridge, Swindon, St.Albans and now Battersea.
Media reports gushed with glossy photos of the firm's offices at the iconic Battersea Power Station, famous for its Pink Floyd album cover appearance.
Cook also visited a local school where Apple is providing free coding lessons, and clarified to reporters that yes, Apple was hiring more people to work on artificial intelligence.
The Apple chief also conceded governments should regulate AI. But at the same time Cook was speaking, tech industry lobbyists declared they had opened a new London HQ of their own. The aim? To influence the UK government as it formulates Brexit-flavoured tech policy in the wake of the regulatory burden Europe has been imposing on Big Tech under its Digital Agenda.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association, representing Big Tech firms like Amazon, Google and - yes - Apple, appointed Matthew Sinclair, formerly of right-wing lobby group The Tax Payer's Alliance, to head its UK push.
Sinclair said in a press statement yesterday it was "a vital moment for the regulation of tech in the UK".
He said the UK had an "opportunity to cement its role as a tech sector leader", but only if government policy makers "navigate real risks" of "choking the dynamism" tech has given the economy "as they plan ambitious interventions".
Today, the CCIA said it was taking steps against EU efforts to regulate AI too stringently.
Tim Cook's European promo tour took in a visit to the Real Madrid football team, game developers in Holland and a pop star in Copenhagen.
Apple was not prepared to provide details of the tech chief's UK visit.