UK companies scale back hiring due to overspending on AI

UK businesses overspend £3.8 billion annually on technology infrastructure, with AI and machine learning accounting for roughly a third (£1.2 billion) and being the hardest category to forecast. Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and commissioned by Wasabi Technologies found that 22% of British businesses find AI infrastructure costs unpredictable, with more than 36% reporting higher-than-expected token or inference charges, 66% citing unexpected licensing fees, and 43% noting integration and deployment expenses. This overspending forces companies to make trade-offs: 77% made at least one cost-driven trade-off in the past year, and hiring in technology, data, and AI roles was the first budget cut for 38% of businesses. CEBR estimates that recovering this overspend could support 8,235 additional jobs, £1.4 billion in new technology investment, £800 million in workforce training, and a long-run UK GDP uplift of £1.4 billion.

(Source：Hotminute)