Downing Street was forced to delete a tweet and repost it after suggesting the UK was still part of the EU.
The official No 10 Twitter account shared a thread on what Britain is doing to become a global leader on the safe development of artificial intelligence (AI).
In one tweet, it included a graphic saying the UK is “home to twice as many AI companies as any other EU country”.
But the tweet was deleted and reposted around 45 minutes later with a new graphic with the wording changed to “any EU country”.
A number of eagle-eyed Twitter users picked up on the gaffe by Downing Street.
The UK formally left the EU in January 2020 following the 2016 Brexit referendum.
In the thread, No 10 said: “AI can transform our lives and improve our public services – but it must be done safely.
“Here are two things we’re doing today to make the UK a global leader on the safe development of this important technology.”
It highlighted the appointment of experts Matt Clifford and Jonathan Black as Rishi Sunak’s official representatives to a global AI safety summit the UK is hosting later this year.
No 10 said they will “drive international support for our summit and make sure the UK leads the world in taking a shared approach to guaranteeing AI safety”.
It also announced £13million in additional funding to develop AI technology for the NHS.
In the now-reposted tweet with the graphic, it said: “The UK leads on AI at home – a reason why many companies want to invest here.
“Google Deep Mind was founded in the UK over a decade ago.
“And we’re home to more AI companies than any EU country, with Open AI and Anthropic AI both opening their first international office here.”
A final tweet in the thread said that the UK is “leading on AI globally” with a £100million investment in an AI taskforce.
