Overview

• At the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, Sadiq Khan hailed London as a “creative hotbed” and a bastion of pro-business, pro-growth and free-expression values as he opened the inaugural SXSW London.
• He faulted US trade barriers and political uncertainty under President Trump to position London as a stable alternative for global investors and international talent.
• Khan urged the city to lead in AI investment by embedding ethical governance and combating bias in emerging technologies.
• Industry leaders cautioned that talent constraints and uneven access to capital threaten London’s competitiveness, pointing to Builder AI’s collapse, Deliveroo’s DoorDash takeover and Revolut’s shift to Paris.
• Tech executives are watching the July rollout of the Online Safety Act and continue to press for more ambitious visa reforms to support early-stage startups.