UK Government Slashes £1.3 Billion from Tech and AI Funding

UK Government cuts £1.3 billion of UK tech and AI funding

The new Labour Government has shelved £1.3bn of "unfunded" investment for UK tech and artificial intelligence (AI) projects promised by the previous Conservative administration. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said no new funding for the programmes had been allocated in the previous government's spending plans, and therefore will not be taken forward. It included £800m for the creation of an 'exascale' supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and £500m of additional funding for the AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI. An additional £300m committed to the AI Research Resource has been committed to, the government said, as this funding was already in place, has been distributed and will continue as planned. "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK," a DSIT spokesman said. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. "This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth." The government said it was pulling together its own plans to invest in compute infrastructure as part of the development of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is being led by industry expert Matt Clifford, who played a leading role in organising the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park last year. "We have launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan which will identify how we can bolster our compute infrastructure to better suit our needs and consider how AI and other emerging technologies can best support our new industrial strategy," the DSIT spokesman said. Andrew Griffith, the Conservatives' shadow science, innovation and technology secretary, accused Labour of having "lower ambitions" for the UK's tech sector. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector - or the new Secretary of State cannot get the same level of support for DSIT from the Chancellor - that's up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors. "We increased public spending on research to a record £20bn a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10% in our manifesto. "AI and Exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding." The future of the exascale supercomputer project remains unclear, with the University of Edinburgh having already spent £31m on a new wing of its advanced computing facility, which was purpose-built to house the supercomputer. It had expected to begin the first phase of installing it in 2025, according to the university's website. A university spokesperson said: "The University of Edinburgh has led the way in supercomputing within the UK for decades and is ready to work with the government to support the next phase of this technology in the UK, in order to unlock its benefits for industry, public services and society." It is understood that the university's principal and vice chancellor Peter Mathieson is urgently seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.

Labour pulls £1.3bn funding for hyper-fast supercomputer and AI projects

A Whitehall department says cash committed by the previous Tory administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not be taken forward. Labour has pulled £1.3bn of investment in tech and AI projects promised by the Tories. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the funding committed by the previous Conservative administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not proceed. It included £800m for the creation of a next-generation exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh - capable of performing one billion billion calculations each second - and £500m of extra cash for AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI. Some £300m already earmarked for AI Research Resource would continue as planned. A DSIT spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. "This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth." The Labour government said it was would consider future investment in computer infrastructure following the development of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is being led by industry expert Matt Clifford. The axing of funding has been criticised by Andrew Griffith, the Conservatives' shadow science, innovation and technology secretary. Read more from Sky News: Major supermarket turns up freezer temperatures Share trading app Freetrade to pull out of Swedish market In a post on social media site X, he said: "If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector - or the new secretary of state cannot get the same level of support for DSIT from the chancellor - that's up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors. "We increased public spending on research to a record £20bn a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10% in our manifesto. "AI and exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding." He added: "As a point of fact, at the time the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year." The future of the exascale supercomputer project remains unclear, with the University of Edinburgh having already spent £31m on a new wing of its advanced computing facility, which was purpose-built to house the supercomputer. It had expected to begin the first phase of installing it in 2025, according to the university's website. A university spokesperson said: "The University of Edinburgh has led the way in supercomputing within the UK for decades and is ready to work with the Government to support the next phase of this technology in the UK, in order to unlock its benefits for industry, public services and society." It is understood the university's principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, is urgently seeking a meeting with the technology secretary.

Labour pulls £1.3bn funding for ultra-fast supercomputer and AI projects

A Whitehall department says cash committed by the previous Tory administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not be taken forward. Labour has pulled £1.3bn of investment in tech and AI projects promised by the Tories. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the funding committed by the previous Conservative administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not proceed. It included £800m for the creation of a next-generation exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh - capable of performing one billion billion calculations each second - and £500m of extra cash for the AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI. Some £300m already earmarked for AI Research Resource would continue as planned. A DSIT spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. "This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth." The Labour government said it would consider future investment in computer infrastructure following the development of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is being led by industry expert Matt Clifford. The axing of funding has been criticised by Andrew Griffith, the Conservatives' shadow science, innovation and technology secretary. Read more from Sky News: Major supermarket turns up freezer temperatures Share trading app Freetrade to pull out of Swedish market In a post on social media site X, he said: "If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector - or the new secretary of state cannot get the same level of support for DSIT from the chancellor - that's up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors. "We increased public spending on research to a record £20bn a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10% in our manifesto. "AI and exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding." He added: "As a point of fact, at the time the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year." The future of the exascale supercomputer project remains unclear, with the University of Edinburgh having already spent £31m on a new wing of its advanced computing facility, which was purpose-built to house the supercomputer. It had expected to begin the first phase of installing it in 2025, according to the university's website. A university spokesperson said: "The University of Edinburgh has led the way in supercomputing within the UK for decades and is ready to work with the government to support the next phase of this technology in the UK, in order to unlock its benefits for industry, public services and society." It is understood the university's principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, is urgently seeking a meeting with the technology secretary.

UK government cuts GBP1.3 billion of UK tech and AI funding

(Alliance News) - The new Labour government in the UK has shelved GBP1.3 billion of "unfunded" investment for UK tech and AI projects promised by the previous Conservative government. The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology said no new funding for the programmes had been allocated in the previous government's spending plans, and therefore will not be taken forward. It included GBP800 million for the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and GBP500 million of additional funding for the AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI. An additional GBP300 million committed to the AI Research Resource has been committed to, the government said, as this funding was already in place, has been distributed and will continue as planned. "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK," a DSIT spokesman said. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. "This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth." The government said it was pulling together its own plans to invest in compute infrastructure as part of the development of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is being led by industry expert Matt Clifford, who played a leading role in organising the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park last year. "We have launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan which will identify how we can bolster our compute infrastructure to better suit our needs and consider how AI and other emerging technologies can best support our new industrial strategy," the DSIT spokesman said. Andrew Griffith, the Conservatives' shadow science, innovation & technology secretary, accused Labour of having "lower ambitions" for the UK's tech sector. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector - or the new Secretary of State cannot get the same level of support for DSIT from the Chancellor - that's up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors. "We increased public spending on research to a record GBP20 billion a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10% in our manifesto. "AI and Exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding." The future of the exascale supercomputer project remains unclear, with the University of Edinburgh having already spent GBP31 million on a new wing of its advanced computing facility, which was purpose-built to house the supercomputer. It had expected to begin the first phase of installing it in 2025, according to the university's website. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

UK shelves £1.3bn of funding for technology and AI projects

Britain's first next-generation supercomputer, planned by Tories, in doubt after Labour government move The new Labour government has shelved £1.3bn of funding pledged by the Conservatives for technology and artificial intelligence projects, putting the future of the UK's first next-generation supercomputer in doubt. The projects, announced last year, include £800m for the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and a further £500m for the AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for AI. The government argues that these were "unfunded commitments". The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the funding had been promised by the previous government but had not been allocated in its spending plans. A spokesperson said: "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth." About £300m in funding for the AI Research Resource has already been distributed and continues as planned. However, the shadow science secretary, Andrew Griffith, said when the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year. He added: "This is a terrible blow to the UK tech sector and could be just the start of Labour cuts. During the election, Labour refused to commit to growing the amount the UK spends on research, yet that's a core part of growing a modern economy. If DSIT can't get the funds from the Treasury, this means university research can expect to be hit, too." Last week, the science secretary, Peter Kyle, said he was "putting AI at the heart of the government's agenda to boost growth and improve our public services", and appointed the tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford to draw up an action plan to identify new AI opportunities. The plan will look at the necessary infrastructure, talent and data access required to drive AI adoption by the public and private sectors. The funding decisions mean that the future of the Edinburgh exascale supercomputer is unclear. The UK's first next-generation supercomputer - 50 times faster than any of the existing machines - was to be hosted at the University of Edinburgh, able to perform 1 billion billion calculations each second. The university hosts the country's current national supercomputer, ARCHER2. The University of Edinburgh says on its website: "Exascale will help researchers model all aspects of the world, test scientific theories and improve products and services in areas such as artificial intelligence, drug discovery, climate change, astrophysics and advanced engineering."

UK government cancels £1bn AI investment plan

The UK government has shelved a £1.3bn plan for investment into tech and artificial intelligence (AI) projects. Included in the funds were an £800m exascale supercomputer at Edinburgh University, and £500m set aside to invest in computing power for AI Research Resource. While the funds were promised to their relevant institutions by set up by the previous Conservative government, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has said they were never allocated in its budget. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth," the DSIT said in a statement. The Conservatives have retorted this point, stating that the DSIT had underspent, with shadow secretary Andrew Griffith saying, "As a point of fact, at the time the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year." "Our commitment in government to science, research and innovation including UK leadership on AI was outstanding," Griffith continued. The supercomputer in Edinburgh, which the university had already spent £31m on building housing for the project, was expected to be 50 times faster than any other computer in the UK. A page on the University's website read, "Exascale will help researchers model all aspects of the world, test scientific theories and improve products and services in areas such as artificial intelligence, drug discovery, climate change, astrophysics and advanced engineering." Speaking to BBC News, director of technology and innovation at techUK, Sue Daly, said, "Investment in large scale computers is vital for the scientific breakthroughs that will grow our economy and improve our lives. The UK had sent clear signals about its ambitions to host a new generation of computers to enable cutting edge research, including in AI." "In an extremely competitive global environment, the government needs to come forward with new proposals quickly. Otherwise, we will lose out against our peers," Daly concluded.

Starmer shelves £1.3bn supercomputer projects in blow to British tech

Decision to cancel funding for Edinburgh facility and AI computing criticised as 'short sighted' Sir Keir Starmer has cancelled more than £1bn in funding for supercomputer projects announced under the previous Conservative government. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it would not take forward £800m earmarked to build Britain's most powerful supercomputer in Edinburgh. It has also dropped a plan to spend £500m on artificial intelligence computing announced earlier this year. The Government said it was making "difficult and necessary spending decisions" and that commitments by the previous government had been unfunded. However, the decision was criticised by the Conservatives as "extremely short sighted". Britain's biggest supercomputer, the Archer 2 facility in Edinburgh, ranks 49th in the global rankings but the most powerful US computer, Frontier, is more than 60 times as powerful. The £800m had been promised for a successor that would be 50 times more powerful and work had already begun on building it, but the project is now believed to be on hold. It is understood that funding is likely to be reassessed in the future. 'Extremely short sighted' "The decision to scrap the UK exascale computer is extremely short sighted," said Alex Burghart, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary. "Exascale would have put top-tier technology at the disposal of UK researchers & businesses - and was key to having next gen AI research in Britain." Andrew Griffith, the shadow science and technology secretary, suggested that Labour has "lower ambitions for the UK tech sector". He said the science and technology department was likely to underspend its budget at the point the election had been called. The last government committed £300m to AI computing resources at Bristol and Cambridge universities, and said earlier this year it planned to spend an extra £500m. The second part of this has also been dropped. An industry source said: "At a time when funding for AI and compute resources is increasing across the world, this is an alarming backward step for the country." It is understood that funding for both projects is likely to be reassessed as part of a review of the Government's AI plans. A DSIT spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK. "The Government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth. "We have launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan which will identify how we can bolster our compute infrastructure to better suit our needs and consider how AI and other emerging technologies can best support our new Industrial Strategy."

Britain shelves tech and AI funding package By Proactive Investors

Proactive Investors - Britain has shelved its plans for a £1.3 billion funding package, aimed at supporting domestic tech and artificial intelligence projects, reports from the BBC revealed. Starmer's new Labour government decided to scrap the funding, which was promised by the former Conservative leadership, as it looks to get the country's finances in order. Part of the cash was set to be used to develop the £800 million exascale supercomputer at Edinburgh University, while another £500 million was earmarked for AI Research Resource, the fund supporting computing power for AI. Both funds had been announced less than 12 months ago. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the cash was never allocated by Sunak's government in its budget, despite promising the funding. "The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments," said DSIT in a statement.