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The U.K. government has scrapped £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) in planned computing infrastructure investments, delivering a significant blow to the country’s aspirations to lead in artificial intelligence (AI).
The cancellations include two major projects: a £500 million commitment to the AI Research Resource, designed to enhance the U.K.’s computing capabilities, and an £800 million initiative to develop a next-generation exascale computer at the University of Edinburgh. The exascale computer was intended to handle 1 trillion calculations per second and was expected to advance the U.K.’s high-performance infrastructure for running complex AI models.
The newly elected Labour government, which inherited the pledges from the previous administration, decided to halt these initiatives as part of a broader strategy to address financial constraints and prioritize other fiscal measures. The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) cited the need to manage unfunded commitments and restore economic stability as reasons for the cutbacks.
“We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the U.K.,” a DSIT spokesperson stated. “However, we must make difficult spending decisions to ensure economic stability and support our national growth objectives.”
The cancellation of these projects comes amid a backdrop of significant spending cuts announced by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, who revealed that Labour had inherited a projected £22 billion ($28 billion) in unfunded pledges from the previous Conservative government.
Under the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the U.K. had positioned itself as a potential leader in AI, including hosting a global AI safety summit at Bletchley Park. However, the Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is shifting focus to introducing new regulatory frameworks for the AI sector, a move that contrasts with Sunak’s more innovation-focused approach.
The anticipated U.K. AI Bill, which was expected to be announced in a recent speech by King Charles III, did not materialize. Instead, the government indicated that it would consult on AI regulation plans in the future, raising questions about the country’s path forward in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.