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The UK will invest in a huge expansion of government AI computing capacity over five years, including building a new supercomputer, to establish a globally competitive artificial intelligence sector, ministers announce on Monday.
The move is in response to a newly released report on AI Opportunities for the UK economy, commissioned by the government and designed by a UK venture capitalist Matt Clifford.
The supercomputer will join the UK’s two other advanced machines, including Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol, which contains around 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and specialist chips for developing AI software, and Dawn at the University of Cambridge.
Clifford’s report advocates achieving the equivalent of 100,000 GPUs in government capacity by 2030.
The new capacity, which would represent a 20-fold increase in the UK’s sovereign computing power, will be separate from private AI data centers and used by the government primarily for AI applications in science and public services.
It is unclear how much the project will cost, although it will be funded from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology’s research and development budget.
The announcement comes as Clifford is appointed as a part-time employee Advisor to Ministers It helps implement the recommendations in its report, according to two people briefed on the plan. Downing Street declined to comment on the proposals.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Our plan will make the UK a world leader (in AI).” It will give the industry the foundation it needs. . . This means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets and transformed public services. That is the change this government is bringing about.”
After a private dinner with former Google boss Eric Schmidt and DeepMind boss Sir Demis Hassabis the evening before the UK conference, Starmer became even more enthusiastic about the value of AI as a driver of economic growth and public sector reform Global Investment Summit in October, according to people briefed on the matter.
The Clifford report, known as the AI Opportunities Action Plan, was submitted to the government in September but there were delays in its publication. According to people briefed on the discussions, several Cabinet ministers met in December to discuss the content.
It makes 50 recommendations for creating a thriving national AI industry by improving conditions for building, scaling and deploying the novel technology.
Recommendations accepted by the government include: the creation of AI “growth zones”, areas across the UK with accelerated access to planning permission to build AI infrastructure; and an AI Energy Council to advise on energy resource requirements for AI, including nuclear energy.
Technology experts, including Clifford, have argued that sovereign computing capacity is essential to ensuring that UK AI companies and researchers can become less dependent on AI companies in other countries.
They argue that this capacity can establish new AI technologies and companies with global relevance, and that access to reliable computing power at reasonable costs is critical as computing infrastructure becomes a geopolitical battleground.
Science and Technology Minister Peter Kyle came under fire in August for cutting funding for an £800 million exascale supercomputer program at the University of Edinburgh, a machine that can carry out complex scientific calculations such as physics simulations . guard.
Kyle has insisted he has “not cut anything” as the £800 million promised by the previous government was not budgeted for.
In the absence of significant new government computing programs, the UK’s most powerful computer has been overtaken by rivals, meaning the country no longer has a machine on the leaderboard global top 50.
Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco
