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The UK will invest in a massive expansion of government-owned AI computing capacity over five years, including building a new supercomputer, as it seeks to create a globally competitive AI sector, ministers announced on Monday.
This step comes in response to a recently published report on… Amnesty International Opportunities for the UK Economy, commissioned by the government and shaped by a British venture capitalist Clifford died.
The supercomputer will join two other advanced machines in the UK, including the Isambard-AI machine at the University of Bristol, which contains around 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), specialist chips for building AI programmes, and the Dawn machine at the University of Cambridge.
Clifford's report calls for reaching the equivalent of 100,000 GPUs in government-owned capacity by 2030.
The new capacity, which will 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 public services.
It is unclear how much the project will cost, although it will be funded from the research and development budget of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology.
This announcement comes with Clifford's part-time appointment Advisor to ministers on artificial intelligence, which helped implement recommendations in his report, according to two people familiar with 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 artificial intelligence). 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. This is the change this government is bringing about.”
Starmer became more enthusiastic about the value of AI as a driver of economic growth and public sector reform after a private dinner with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and DeepMind chief Sir Demis Hassabis the night before the UK meeting. Global Investment Summit In October, according to people familiar with the matter.
Clifford's report, known as the AI Opportunities Action Plan, was submitted to the government in September, but its publication has been delayed. Several ministers met to discuss its contents in December, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The report identifies 50 recommendations for creating a thriving national AI industry by improving conditions for building, scaling and adopting new technology.
Among the recommendations accepted by the government: the creation of AI “growth zones”, which are areas in the UK with rapid access to planning consents to build AI infrastructure; and the AI Energy Council, to advise on energy resource requirements for AI, including nuclear power.
Technology experts, including Clifford, have argued that sovereign computing power is necessary to ensure that British AI companies and researchers become less dependent on AI companies in other countries.
They argue that the capability could create new AI technology and companies of global importance, and that access to reliable computing power at a reasonable cost is crucial as computing infrastructure becomes a geopolitical battleground.
Science and Technology Minister Peter Kyle was criticized last August for canceling funding for the £800m exascale supercomputer program at the University of Edinburgh, a device that can perform complex scientific calculations such as physics simulations, in a move that alienated the technology sector and academia. protects.
Kyle insisted he “did not cut anything” because the £800 million promised by the previous government had not been allocated in the budget.
In the absence of any significant new software for sovereign computing, the UK's most powerful computer has been overtaken by rivals, meaning the country no longer has a world-class machine. Top 50 globally.
Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco
