The UK promises a huge increase in computing capacity to build an artificial intelligence industry

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The UK will invest in a major expansion of the government’s artificial intelligence computing capacity over five years, including the construction of a new supercomputer as it seeks to establish a globally competitive artificial intelligence sector, ministers will announce on Monday.

This move is in response to a newly published report on AI opportunities for the UK economy, commissioned by the government and built by British venture capitalists 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), specialized chips for building AI software, and Dawn at the University of Cambridge.

Clifford’s report advocates achieving the equivalent of 100,000 state-owned GPUs by 2030.

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

It is unclear how much the project will cost, although it will come from the research and development budget of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology.

This announcement comes after Clifford was appointed as a part-time employee advisor to ministers on artificial intelligence, helping implement recommendations from 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 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 transformed public services. That is the change this government is bringing.”

Starmer grew more excited about the value of artificial intelligence as a driver of economic growth and public sector reform after a private dinner with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and DeepMind boss Sir Demis Hassabis the night before the UK global investment summit in October, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Clifford report, known as the “Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan”, was submitted to the government in September, but its publication has been delayed. Several cabinet ministers met to discuss its content in December, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

It sets out 50 recommendations for creating a successful national artificial intelligence industry by improving the conditions for building, scaling and adopting new technology.

Among the government’s accepted recommendations are: the creation of AI “growth zones”, areas of the UK with accelerated access to planning approvals to build AI infrastructure; and the AI ​​Energy Council, to advise on energy resource requirements for AI, including nuclear power.

Technical experts, including Clifford, have argued that sovereign computing capacity is necessary to ensure that UK AI companies and researchers can become less dependent on AI jobs in other countries.

They argue that the capacity can establish new AI technology and companies that are globally relevant, and that access to reliable computing power at a reasonable cost is critical as computing infrastructure becomes a geopolitical battleground.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle came under fire in August for ending funding for the University of Edinburgh’s £800m Exascale supercomputer programme, a machine that can run complex scientific calculations such as physics simulations, in a move that caught the tech and academic sectors by storm . guard.

Kyle insisted he “didn’t cut anything”, as the £800m promised 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 machine ranked world top 50.

Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco