UK To Go 'All-In' On AI As PM Starmer Seeks To Boost Tech Growth

LONDON, Jan 13 (Bernama-dpa) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will throw the weight of Whitehall fully behind AI (artificial intelligence) in a bid to boost growth, reported German news agency (dpa).

Starmer is set to unveil his government's AI Opportunity Action Plan on Monday as he seeks to make Britain a world leader in the sector.

He said: "The AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won't sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers.

"And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race."

Monday's plan will take forward all 50 recommendations made by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who was commissioned by Science Secretary Peter Kyle in July to come up with a plan to identify AI opportunities.

It will see the government create a series of AI "growth zones", starting in Culham, Oxfordshire, where it will accelerate planning approvals for data centres and improve access to the energy grid.

The government has also pledged to increase the UK's compute capacity 20-fold by 2030, including by building a new supercomputer.

Even before being asked to formulate the plan, Clifford had called for a significant increase in the UK's computation power as a way of attracting AI investment.

The previous government had said it would support an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, but the plans were shelved shortly after Labour came to power with the government saying the Tories had failed to allocate any money to the project.

Construction of a new supercomputer, at a location yet to be decided, is expected to be funded in partnership with the private sector.

The government will also create a national data library of public sector data that will be used to train AI models.

It is expected that National Health Service (NHS) data would be included, with protections such as anonymisation, potentially sparking concern from privacy campaigners.

But Kyle told The Times that the government would "always be in control of data" and "never let anybody have free-range access to it".

Clifford said: "This is a plan which puts us all-in – backing the potential of AI to grow our economy, improve lives for citizens and make us a global hub for AI investment and innovation."

Arguing that embracing AI could boost gross domestic product, ministers hope Monday's announcement will bring some optimism amid headlines warning of sluggish growth, inflation and the rising cost of borrowing.

The government is not just hoping to attract AI investment with its action plan, but also spur the adoption of the technology across Whitehall in a bid to improve productivity and cut costs.

Starmer has personally written to Cabinet ministers ordering them to make driving AI adoption and growth in their departments a top priority.

New teams will be set up to pilot AI in the public sector and keep the UK at the cutting edge of emerging technology.

Alexander Iosad, director of government innovation at the Tony Blair Institute, welcomed the plan, saying AI could "help take care of drudgery in the public sector", helping retain more staff who are currently "overwhelmed and overworked".

He said: "AI is no longer an if, or even a when; it is here and it is urgent.

"The opportunities for Britain's economy and our public services are too great for us to ignore."

Alongside Monday's announcement, the government revealed tech companies had committed a total of £14 billion (US$17.1 billion) of investment in AI infrastructure in the UK, expected to create 13,250 jobs.

This includes a £12 billion commitment from Vantage Data Centres, which is already building one of Europe's largest data centres in Wales, and US$2.5 billion from Nscale, including a contract to build the largest UK sovereign data centre at Loughton, in Essex, by 2026.

-- BERNAMA-dpa