Staff at the UK’s leading artificial intelligence institute have raised concerns about the organization’s governance and internal culture in a whistleblowing complaint to the charity watchdog. The Alan Turing Institute (ATI), a registered charity with substantial state funding, is under government pressure to overhaul its strategic focus and leadership after an intervention last month from the technology secretary, Peter Kyle.
In a complaint to the Charity Commission, a group of current ATI staff raise eight points of concern and say the institute is in danger of collapse due to government threats over its funding. The complaint alleges that the board of trustees, chaired by the former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr, has failed to fulfill core legal duties such as providing strategic direction and ensuring accountability, with staff alleging a letter of no confidence was delivered last year and not acted upon.
A spokesperson for ATI said the Charity Commission had not been in touch with the institute about any complaints that may have been sent to the organization. They added that a whistleblower complaint had been filed last year to the government’s UK Research and Innovation body, which funds ATI, and a subsequent independent investigation found no concerns.
The complaint comes after ATI, which is undergoing a restructuring, notified about 50 staff – or approximately 10% of its workforce – that they were at risk of redundancy. It claims ATI’s funding is at risk, citing “privately raised concerns” from unnamed industry partners, while warning that Kyle has made clear that future government support is contingent on improved delivery and leadership change.
In a letter to Gurr this month, Kyle called for a switch in focus to defense and national security at ATI, as well as leadership changes. While the letter stated ATI should “continue to receive the funding needed to implement reforms”, it said its “longer-term funding arrangement” could be reviewed next year.
The complaint claims there has been no internal or external accountability for how ATI funds have been used. It alleges there is an internal culture of “fear, exclusion, and defensiveness”, and that the board has not provided adequate oversight of a series of senior leadership departures under the
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/10/staff-alan-turing-institute-ai-complain-watchdog
