The Welsh government used Microsoft's Copilot to help write a review of an industry liaison body that it then scrapped, its chairman has told a Senedd committee.

The government set up Industry Wales as a state-owned company to run sector forums for aerospace, automotive, and technology in 2013, adding a fourth for net zero-focused businesses in 2022.

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In January 2025, officials told Industry Wales it would be subject to a review. In August, it said it would be closed based on that review's conclusions as of March 31, 2026. The decision was publicly announced last October, with the government saying it had provided the company with a grant of £837,000 for 2025-26.

Industry Wales chair Professor Keith Ridgway saw a copy of the unpublished review on January 9 to find it was based on 28 interviews with people from unnamed organizations, processed by Microsoft Copilot.

"I was alarmed and made a point to the board that the review refers to Microsoft Copilot as being used to evaluate the returns," he told the Senedd's Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee on March 4. "I don't think you can rely on artificial intelligence to do that. It's just wrong."

Ridgway said evidence in the review supported some trimming of Industry Wales's scope but included views backing a Wales-specific organization in the role rather than UK-wide industry bodies, which was not reflected in the conclusion.

"I think it would have been very sensible to have brought the findings back to the board for validation and triangulation, not to use Microsoft Copilot in whatever use," he added.

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The Welsh government confirmed that its staff made some use of Microsoft's AI tool in producing the review. "The use of Copilot during the review of Industry Wales was limited to producing full, accurate and unbiased transcripts of interviews, analyzing and grouping comments into common themes," it said in a statement.

"Detailed analysis of the evidence, assessment of the options and preparation of the review was carried out by Welsh government officials."

Tom Gifford, a member of the Senedd Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, described the Welsh government's use of AI in deciding the fate of an organization it owned as "bonkers" when interviewed for political journalist Will Hayward's Substack newsletter.

As part of Industry Wales's closure, its associated tech forum company, Technology Connected, said in February that it too will cease trading on March 31.

The company ran the annual Wales Tech Week industry event, which in 2025 attracted more than 4,000 visitors. Ridgway told the committee the Welsh Automotive Forum is also closing after more than two decades in operation. ®

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