UK want’s to build a huge artificial intelligence industry

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Ministers will announce on Monday that the UK will invest over five years in a massive expansion of the government’s artificial intelligence computing capacity, including building a new supercomputer, to create a globally competitive artificial intelligence sector.

This move comes in response to a newly published report on artificial intelligence opportunities for the UK economy, commissioned by the government and developed by a British venture capitalist Matt Clifford.

The supercomputer will join two other advanced machines in the UK, including Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol, which contains around 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and specialized chips to create AI software, and Dawn at the University of Cambridge.

The Clifford Report recommends achieving the equivalent of 100,000 government-owned GPUs by 2030.

The new computing capacity, which would represent a 20-fold increase in the UK’s sovereign computing power, will be separate from private AI data centers and will be deployed by the government mainly for AI applications in academia and public services.

It is unclear how much the project will cost, although it will be covered by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s research and development budget.

The announcement comes as Clifford is hired on a part-time basis advisor to ministers on artificial intelligence, helping to implement the recommendations of 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 Britain a world leader [in AI]. This will give the industry the foundation it needs. . . This means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets and a transformation of public services. That is the change this government is delivering.”

Starmer was more excited about the value of artificial intelligence as an engine for economic growth and public sector reform after a private dinner with former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and DeepMind boss Sir Demis Hassabis on the evening before the UK launch world investment summit according to people briefed on the matter in October.

The Clifford report, known as the ‘Artificial Intelligence Capabilities Roadmap’, was submitted to the government in September, but there have been delays in its publication. Several cabinet ministers met in December to discuss its contents, according to people briefed on the discussions.

It sets out 50 recommendations for creating a thriving domestic artificial intelligence industry by improving the conditions for creating, scaling and deploying innovative technology.

Among the recommendations accepted by the Government are: the creation of AI ‘growth zones’, areas of the UK with accelerated access to planning permission to build AI infrastructure; and the AI ​​Energy Council, which advises on energy resource requirements for AI, including nuclear energy.

Technology experts, including Clifford, argue that sovereign computing power is essential for British AI companies and researchers to become less dependent on AI companies in other countries.

They argue that this capability will enable the creation of new AI technologies and global enterprises, and that access to reliable computing power at a reasonable cost is crucial as computing infrastructure becomes a geopolitical battleground.

Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle came under fire in August for withdrawing funding for the University of Edinburgh’s £800 million exascale supercomputer program – a machine that can perform complex scientific calculations such as physics simulations, a move that baffled the technology and academic sector. guard.

Kyle insists he “hasn’t cut anything” because the £800m pledged by the previous government was not included in the budget.

In the absence of any significant new sovereign computing programs, the UK’s most powerful computer has been overtaken by rivals, meaning the country no longer has a ranked machine world top 50.

Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco