The UK government is making major investments in building some of the world's most powerful AI supercomputers, signaling its ambition to be a global leader in artificial intelligence. This rapid push comes as the UK races to catch up to AI heavyweights like the U.S. and China.
The UK recently announced a £225 million investment to construct Isambard-AI, set to be the country's fastest supercomputer yet. Built by the University of Bristol and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Isambard-AI will achieve over 200 petaflops and 21 exaflops of AI performance when operational in 2024, potentially placing it among the top 10 most capable supercomputers globally. The system will accelerate research and innovation in robotics, climate modeling, drug discovery, and other fields relying on computationally intensive AI.
Isambard-AI is part of the UK's new £300 million Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, revealed during the government's landmark AI Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park. This AI Research Resource will also include Dawn, a new Dell-built supercomputer at the University of Cambridge delivering unmatched simulation and AI power starting this November.
In another move to establish itself as an AI leader, the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) announced an agreement with IBM to provide researchers cloud-based access to IBM's quantum systems. This will enable quantum computing projects and discovery-led research at universities and public sector organizations.
The NQCC agreement is aligned with the UK's National Quantum Strategy and its £2.5 billion investment commitment. Together, investments in AI supercomputing and quantum computing show the UK's determination to compete at the cutting edge of these transformative technologies.
Together, Isambard-AI and Dawn represent a massive boost to the UK's AI research infrastructure. While the US and China have built formidable leads in AI with heavy government funding, the UK seems determined to catch up and realize the technology's economic and societal potential.
"Isambard-AI represents a huge leap forward for AI computational power in the UK,” said Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith of the University of Bristol. “It will be one of the most powerful AI systems for open science anywhere.”
The new supercomputers will aid national priorities like the UK’s Frontier AI Taskforce, providing capacity to safely develop advanced AI models. With its rich history of computing breakthroughs, the UK hopes major investments in world-class infrastructure will catalyze further innovations.
“This means giving Britain’s leading researchers and scientific talent access to the tools they need to delve into how this complicated technology works,” said UK Science Minister Michelle Donelan. The dawn of these powerful new resources marks an important milestone in the UK's pursuit of global AI leadership.
With major investments in world-class infrastructure, the UK hopes to catalyze breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies. The dawn of these powerful new resources marks an important milestone in the UK's pursuit of global leadership.