UK sets aside £1.3 billion to fund AI startups and companies – Firstpost

The UK Labour government has decided to withdraw £1.3 billion of funding previously pledged by the Conservatives for technology and artificial intelligence (AI) projects. The decision casts uncertainty over the development of the UK’s first next-generation supercomputer, the University of Edinburgh’s exascale supercomputer, which was part of the plans.

The funding package that has now been shelved includes £800 million for an exascale supercomputer and £500 million for an AI Research Resource to support AI initiatives. The Labour government has justified the withdrawals by describing them as “unfunded liabilities” that were not included in the previous government’s spending plans. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said the move is part of wider measures to restore economic stability and achieve growth for the country.

Impact on the technology sector and research
While some £300m has already been committed to the AI ​​Research Resource, the withdrawal of the remaining funding has raised concerns across the tech sector. Shadow Science Secretary Andrew Griffith criticised the move, suggesting it signals potential future cuts under a Labour government. He said the decision could damage the UK’s ambitions to boost research spending, which is key to supporting a modern economy.

Griffith said ministers were told the department was likely to be underfunded when the election was called, suggesting funding could have been maintained. The decision also raises concerns about the potential impact on university research funding.

Edinburgh supercomputer faces uncertain future
The University of Edinburgh was planning to host the UK’s first exascale supercomputer, capable of performing a billion billion calculations per second, 50 times faster than any existing machine in the UK. The university, which already hosts the country’s Archer2 supercomputer, spent £31 million on the infrastructure to house the exascale system. The supercomputer was expected to aid research in a range of fields including artificial intelligence, drug discovery, climate change, astrophysics and advanced engineering.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, is seeking an urgent meeting with the Science Secretary to discuss the future of the project.

UK Government’s commitment to AI
Despite funding cuts, the government maintains it is committed to improving the technology infrastructure to drive growth and opportunity across the UK. Science Secretary Peter Kyle recently said AI remains at the heart of the government’s agenda to boost economic growth and improve public services. He has appointed tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford to develop a roadmap to harness the new capabilities of AI, focusing on the necessary infrastructure, talent and access to data to drive AI adoption across both the public and private sectors.

But the withdrawal of significant funding casts a shadow over these ambitions and raises questions about the Government’s ability to support and sustain important technological advances in the UK.