British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will outline a detailed plan on Monday that aims to establish Britain as a global hub for artificial intelligence.
The ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’ is expected to boost economic growth, improve public services and create thousands of new jobs.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader,” Starmer said ahead of the announcement. “It will give the industry the foundation it needs and boost the Plan for Change.”
The action plan includes all 50 proposals from a report submitted last year by Matt Clifford, chairman of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).
The British government estimates that fully embracing AI could boost the economy by £47 billion a year over the next decade, according to Sunday’s press release.
The three key pillars of the plan include building infrastructure, driving AI adoption and staying ahead of international competition.
Central to the plan is the creation of AI Growth Zones, with the first being launched in Culham, Oxfordshire, with others planned for de-industrialised regions.
These zones will accelerate the development of essential AI infrastructure, including data centers, with streamlined planning processes and improved access to energy.
Starmer’s government plans to increase computing power twentyfold by 2030, starting with building a state-of-the-art supercomputer capable of running half a million games of chess per second.
A new National Data Library will be introduced to securely access public data and support advances in AI, while an AI Energy Council will address the technology’s energy needs.
The initiative has attracted significant private investment, with Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl committing around £14 billion ($16.9 billion), creating 13,250 jobs.
These projects include one of Europe’s largest data center campuses in Wales and the development of the UK’s largest sovereign AI data center in Essex.
This follows the £25 billion ($30 billion) in AI investments announced at the International Investment Summit last year.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan also includes an AI Energy Council, which will work with energy companies to meet AI energy needs while supporting the UK’s clean energy goals.
Artificial intelligence will bring incredible changes to our country,” the British Prime Minister said. “From teachers personalizing lessons, to supporting small businesses with record-keeping, to accelerating scheduling applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.”
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