Karnataka and the UK will work together more closely on AI, innovation, and talent development: Kharge

Karnataka will deepen partnerships with the United Kingdom across artificial intelligence, innovation and skilling through its outreach programme, the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), the state’s IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge said on Monday.

The announcement was made ahead of Kharge’s meeting with UK minister for AI and online safety Kanishka Narayan. The two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on digital public infrastructure, data governance, skilling, startup ecosystems, cross-border innovation partnerships, AI and online safety, according to a statement from the IT/BT ministry.

“Bengaluru is the beating heart of India’s technology ecosystem, and that is why I am here to meet the minister and explore deeper collaboration with Karnataka,” Narayan said. “As we build AI ecosystems, we must ensure they are responsible, safe and aligned with these values.” He added that the UK is investing in compute infrastructure, sovereign capabilities across the AI stack and driving adoption across public services and industry. “Deeper collaboration with Karnataka can help shape globally relevant, trusted AI systems,” he said.

The collaboration comes as India and the UK prepare to implement their Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed last July and expected to come into effect in April. During the meeting, Kharge highlighted the state’s leadership in AI and deeptech innovation, underlining Bengaluru’s position as a global technology capital.

“Karnataka is building the next phase of its technology leadership around deeptech, applied research and future-ready innovation. Our vision is to create a strong innovation-led economy that accelerates learning, strengthens governance and empowers startups to build for India and the world,” Kharge said.

He added that through focused policies, infrastructure and partnerships, the state aims to remain deeply integrated with global technology value chains and continue as a preferred destination for innovation, investment and talent.

According to the statement, the GIA has supported over 2,000 startups and facilitated more than 60 international partnerships and memorandums of understanding across more than 30 countries. During the interaction, Kharge proposed creating a formal Karnataka-UK innovation bridge to deepen ecosystem linkages between the two regions.

The proposed collaboration would include coworking and incubation spaces for UK and Karnataka startups, bilateral startup exchange programmes, cooperation between centres of excellence in priority AI sectors and accelerated market access support for startups in both ecosystems.

“We envision a formal innovation bridge between Karnataka and the UK as part of a broader global innovation network, where startups, researchers and enterprises from both sides can collaborate, access markets and scale globally. A strong base in either Bengaluru or London can serve as a powerful launchpad for international growth,” Kharge said.