TL;DR

HMRC has signed a £146,160 contract with London-based AI video firm Synthesia for a 12-month pilot. The platform will be used by the department’s HR team to create AI-generated videos for internal communications and staff training.

The contract details

The deal, awarded through the G-Cloud 14 framework, gives HMRC access to Synthesia’s AI video generator for creating content with AI avatars and voiceovers. The platform claims to save up to 90% of the time and cost of traditional video production and supports over 160 languages.

An HMRC spokesperson described the contract as part of “one of the biggest rollouts of internal AI tools in government,” covering search, summarisation, and content production. If the pilot is judged successful, the department will run a fresh procurement process next year to evaluate options for a longer-term rollout.

Synthesia’s growing public sector footprint

The HMRC agreement is Synthesia’s sixth public sector contract. Previous clients include the Bank of England, Companies House, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and Nuclear Restoration Services. The company, often described as the UK’s largest generative AI firm, employs more than 500 staff and posted revenue of £46.6 million in 2024 alongside annual losses of £45 million.

In its most recent funding round, Synthesia raised £159 million ($200 million) from Google Ventures at a valuation of £3 billion ($4 billion). The company’s growing government client list suggests public sector demand for AI-generated video content is expanding beyond early adopters.

Looking forward

The pilot raises practical questions about where AI-generated video fits within government communications. Producing training videos with AI avatars rather than filming real staff or commissioning production companies could reduce costs and turnaround times significantly. But the approach also introduces questions about authenticity and staff reception that HMRC will need to evaluate during the trial period.