According to the BBC, The U.K.’s Labour government was elected in July, and one of its first acts after about a month in power was to put the funds for the GBP 800 million supercomputer at Edinburgh University and GBP 500 million A.I. Research Resource on hold. The former was a priority project by the previous Conservative government, while the latter was part of its outstanding commitment to “science, research, and innovation, including U.K. leadership on A.I.”
However, the U.K. Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) says that the move was unavoidable because of “billions of pounds of unfunded commitments.” The agency also said, “This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.”
Some U.K. industry leaders and politicians have highly criticized this move. Tech founder Barney Hussey-Yeo said on X, “Reducing investment & raising taxes pushes more entrepreneurs to the U.S.,” Angus Robertson, Member of the Scottish Parliament, commented, “Bad News.” Chris van der Kuyl, Chairperson of 4J Studios, had a more colorful take on X, saying, “This is idiotic. How to consign the U.K. to the “tech slow lane.”
The University of Edinburgh would have been the most affected by this cut, as it has already invested over GBP 31 million in facilities for the exascale supercomputer. The university’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, is already seeking an appointment with the U.K. Secretary of State, Peter Kyle, to clarify the project’s future.
The University of Bristol currently houses Isambard-AI, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. However, the Edinburg exascale supercomputer is estimated to be at least 50 times faster than this, helping keep the U.K. on the leading edge of advanced computing.
The University of Edinburgh says on its news page, “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.” It also said in a statement to the BBC that, “it is ready to work with the government to support the next phase of this technology in the U.K., in order to unlock its benefits for industry, public services, and society.”
The U.K. needs to sort out the funding for these advanced A.I. projects, or it could fall behind the U.S., China, and the rest of the E.U., spending billions in investments to advance this technology. As Sue Daley, the director of technology and innovation at trade association techUK, says, “In an extremely competitive global environment, the government needs to come forward with new proposals quickly. Otherwise, we will lose out against our peers.”
