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The UK will invest in a huge expansion of government-owned AI computing capacity over five years, including building a new supercomputer, as it seeks to establish a globally competitive artificial intelligence sector, ministers will announce on Monday.
The move follows a recently published report on the opportunities of AI for the UK economy, commissioned by the government and written by British venture capitalist Matt Clifford.
The supercomputer will join two other advanced machines in the UK, including Isambard-AI from the University of Bristol, which contains around 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), specialized chips for creating artificial intelligence software, and Dawn from the Cambridge University.
Clifford’s report advocates reaching the equivalent of 100,000 GPUs in government-owned capacity by 2030.
The new capacity, which would represent a 20-fold increase in the UK’s sovereign computing power, will be separate from privately owned AI data centers and will be deployed by the government primarily for AI applications in academia and services. public.
It is unclear how much the project will cost, although it will come out of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s research and development budget.
The announcement comes as Clifford is appointed as a part-time adviser to ministers on AI, helping to implement the recommendations of his 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 Britain the world leader (in AI). It will give the industry the foundation it needs. . . That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets and transformed public services. That is the change that this government is achieving.”
Starmer became even more enthusiastic about the value of AI as an engine of economic growth and public sector reform following a private dinner with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and DeepMind director Sir Demis Hassabis the night before. to the UK’s global investment summit in October, according to people. informed about the matter.
The Clifford report, known as the “AI Opportunities Action Plan”, was submitted to the government in September, but its publication has been hit by delays. Several cabinet ministers met to discuss its content in December, according to people briefed on the discussions.
It establishes 50 recommendations to create a thriving national AI industry by improving the conditions to build, scale and adopt the new technology.
Among the recommendations accepted by the government are: the creation of AI “growth zones”, areas of the UK with fast-track access to planning approvals to build AI infrastructure; and an AI Energy Council, to advise on requirements around energy resources for AI, including nuclear energy.
Technology experts, including Clifford, have argued that sovereign computing power is essential to ensuring British AI companies and researchers can become less dependent on AI companies from other countries.
They argue that the capability can establish new AI technologies and businesses that are globally relevant, and that having access to reliable computing power at a reasonable cost is crucial as computing infrastructure is becoming a geopolitical battleground.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle was criticized in August for removing funding for an £800m exascale supercomputer program at the University of Edinburgh, a machine that can perform complex scientific calculations, such as physics simulations, in a a measure that surprised the technological and academic sector. guard.
Kyle has insisted he “didn’t cut anything” as the £800m promised by the previous government was not budgeted for.
In the absence of significant new sovereign software, the UK’s most powerful computer has been overtaken by its rivals, meaning the country no longer has a machine ranked in the world’s top 50.
Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco
