{"id":524996,"date":"2026-04-11T10:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/524996\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T10:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:35:12","slug":"is-chris-kenna-manchesters-first-ai-billionaire-in-the-making-or-a-serial-fantasist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/524996\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Chris Kenna Manchester\u2019s first AI billionaire in the making \u2014 or a serial fantasist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear readers \u2013 today\u2019s story is a collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism<\/a>. Along with their senior tech reporter Niamh McIntyre, we\u2019ve been investigating an AI entrepreneur who has promised massive investments in Manchester. Do they exist?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CTA<\/a><\/p>\n

Hi, Jack here, an editor at The Mill. <\/p>\n

This story was the product of several weeks of reporting. Alongside the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, we spent that time fact-checking dozens of claims made by Chris Kenna, speaking to his former employees at multiple companies and visiting sites in Manchester and Scotland.<\/p>\n

We’re publishing it for free because we believe it is in the public interest, but we would urge you to remember that The Mill only exists because 4,200 people choose to pay for it each month. Frankly, this kind of journalism doesn’t pay for itself.<\/p>\n

If you choose to support us we’ll continue to grow, and continue to be able to hold figures like Kenna to account. You’ll receive not only amazing investigations like this one, but beautifully written features, insights into local politics and much more. Our paying members get between eight and 10 extra editions every month. We hope you enjoy the piece. <\/p>\n


\n Join The Mill today
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Is Chris Kenna Manchester\u2019s first AI billionaire in the making \u2014 or a serial fantasist?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m standing at Anchorage Place, MediaCityUK, before an empty office block. This \u2014 I\u2019ve been told \u2014 is the site where Manchester-based entrepreneur Chris Kenna is planning to invest \u00a350 million in one of the most innovative tech projects in the country: a \u201cworld-class\u201d AI data centre, which he says is at the centre of a deal worth close to a billion pounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s nothing here. No employees, no builders, no sign of any life at all. I walk into the Anchorage Place offices and enquire at the desk about Kenna\u2019s company: Media Stream AI (MSAI). The woman at the desk is baffled. She\u2019s never heard of such a company, or of anyone called Chris Kenna. Certainly, she hasn\u2019t seen any sign of the \u00a350m data centre that was supposed to pop up in this building in the first quarter of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s going on here? Kenna claims his company is on course for a \u00a32.5 billion valuation by the end of 2026, instantly transforming the 43-year-old into one of the city\u2019s wealthiest tycoons. Kenna has been photographed at events with local MPs and has been feted in the local press, with the MEN\u2019s sister-site Business Live telling readers in a glowing piece in October last year that the Salford data centre \u201cis set to open in December\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one podcast interview, Kenna describes himself as a man with \u201czero bullshit tolerance\u201d. But the more we\u2019ve interrogated Kenna\u2019s claims, the less they add up. Working with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, we\u2019ve found no evidence of any data centre in the works in Salford \u2014 or indeed of the \u00a350 million investment Kenna says he has raised. Leading global tech firms have rubbished statements Kenna has made about working with them, and this week, we even travelled to Dundee to check his claim that he has a centre there. You might be able to guess what we found.\u00a0<\/p>\n

War stories\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Chris Kenna is to be believed, Chris Kenna is a man of extraordinary achievements. He\u2019s a combat veteran, having served two years in the SAS, requiring him to have passed one of the most notoriously difficult military training programmes in the world. He’s sat on the advisory board for TikTok and the Metropolitan Police and co-founded an award-winning media company. And that\u2019s before we get to MSAI, the groundbreaking tech firm that promises to deliver \u201c\u00a3150m of value to the local economy over the next five years\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"The MediaCity data centre, which Kenna says is due to open shortly. Photo: Lucy McLaughlin\/The Mill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kenna is a Black, gay man. He usually wears his trademark cap backwards, and frequently appears on podcasts to tell his story, from a childhood in care to business prominence. Across dozens of these media appearances, Kenna cites the values instilled in him during his time in the military as fundamental to his success. On his website, he\u2019s proud to label his business as \u201cveteran-owned\u201d.<\/p>\n

His departure from the army became a national news story. Kenna claimed he had been kicked out of the SAS due to his sexual orientation when his then-wife discovered he was gay and informed his chain of command. \u201cBeing gay has made no difference to my effectiveness as a soldier,\u201d he told The Times in 2008. \u201cWhen I completed the SAS course I was the proudest guy alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time the claim was disputed by his former colleagues, who said he wasn\u2019t a proper SAS member. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t required to pass the SAS fitness tests and failed the one he did do,\u201d one source told The Times.<\/p>\n

Other parts of Kenna\u2019s military story are also confusing, like how old he was when he joined the army. In different interviews he has said he was 16, 17, and on a podcast last month he said he\u2019d joined \u201cthe day the planes hit the towers\u201d. Kenna was just shy of 19 on 9\/11, but when we tried to ask him about these kinds of discrepancies, he said he didn\u2019t want to talk about his time in the SAS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kenna\u2019s most striking military tale, repeated countless times, was the life-changing moment his vehicle was hit by an explosive device during his second tour in Iraq in the mid-2000s. \u201cThe people behind me, the people next to me, no one else survived,\u201d he reflects in one video. Kenna says he was in a coma for eight weeks and upon recovery, was medically discharged from the army, came out as gay, and had an epiphany that led to a career in advertising. An army spokesperson told us they can\u2019t comment on his service background.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kenna\u2019s big launch\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 2017, this led to Kenna setting up a company called Brand Advance Ltd, a marketing agency that helped brands reach underrepresented communities. It was dubbed the \u201cindustry\u2019s first diversity-focused ad network\u201d and saw Kenna shortlisted for Chief Executive of the Year at the Inclusive Companies Awards 2019. But despite Kenna claiming that his agency was working with clients like Unilever, Google and Mercedes, Brand Advance entered compulsory liquidation in 2024 after HMRC brought a petition to wind it up for unpaid taxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although it had an unfortunate end, Brand Advance elevated Kenna as a public figure. The media appearances ramped up. The Telegraph celebrated his diversity initiatives, while Prolific North noted his role on the advisory board for TikTok, one of the world\u2019s most popular social media companies. This is another flattering detail that we haven\u2019t been able to stand up: a spokesperson for TikTok told us that they do not have an advisory board and that they have never heard of Kenna.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a bright day last September, Kenna launched his most ambitious project yet. The surroundings conferred prestige: the launch took place in the Manchester offices of global accounting firm KPMG, with Kenna addressing his audience high up above St Peter\u2019s Square, his signature cap spun backwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MSAI was a new company that he had set up in February 2025, six months after Brand Advance’s compulsory liquidation. A press release included the target \u00a32.5 billion valuation and listed high-profile attendees: two representatives from tech giant Lenovo, Labour\u2019s Rusholme MP Afzal Khan and the entrepreneur Piers Linney, a former star of the TV show Dragons’ Den.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Chris Kenna and Labour MP for Rusholme Afzal Khan, posing on KPMG\u2019s roof terrace during the launch event. Photo: MSAI.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear why KPMG was willing to host the launch of an unknown company and what the nature of their relationship is. Kenna says KPMG is central to his business, telling us: \u201cThey model out for us every new contract, clients, prepare everything for the financing. They prepare everything for the importing of GPUs\u2026the due diligence we have to provide for these contracts, even for our government application as well. They did all of the accounts for that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when we asked KPMG about its work with Kenna, it set off a series of slightly confusing calls with the company\u2019s press office. It appears MSAI is a client of KPMG, but a spokesperson says KPMG doesn\u2019t perform the company\u2019s audit or accounts. When we asked about Kenna\u2019s other claim, that KPMG acts as his startup\u2019s CTO (or chief technology officer), the spokesperson said this isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

The MP Khan, who was photographed with Kenna, says he only attended the event because he was told that MSAI was \u201cplanning to launch\/invest in the city\u201d and says he hasn\u2019t been in touch with Kenna since. After seeing Linney mentioned in the event\u2019s press release, we contacted him to get his thoughts on Kenna\u2019s new company. He responded that he \u201cdidn\u2019t attend that event\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Like a news horror story\u2019<\/p>\n

One former employee at MSAI, a graduate engineer who has asked not to be named, remembers his first day well. It was last October and he was excited about starting his first job out of university, even though the role was remote.<\/p>\n

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