The UK Is Betting on a Billion-Dollar AI Supercomputer to Kick Its Addiction to US Tech
The UK government has laid out a $1.47 billion plan to shake its dependence on foreign-made artificial intelligence hardware.
Under the measures, announced Monday, the UK will spend more than $1 billion on a national AI supercomputer. It will be stocked with $530 million worth of hardware, including $200 million that will go toward specialist inference chips for processing AI tasks. Priority will be given to up-and-coming British firms in the procurement process; the government pointed to Olix and Fractile, two UK startups developing new styles of inference chip, as potential beneficiaries. British researchers and startups are expected to be able to use the supercomputer starting in 2030.
The new measures are part of a broader effort by the UK government to minimize dependence on foreign powers for access to AI products and services—a move made more urgent by the apparent souringof the relationship between the US and its...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to wired.com. To see the full text click HERE
