Making British AI supercomputing thirty times more powerful

This initiative will establish and link two new supercomputers throughout the UK, providing researchers with access to resources that possess over thirty times the capacity of the UK's prevailing largest public AI computing tools. These machines, operational from summer 2024, will facilitate the analysis of advanced AI models to evaluate safety features and promote innovations in drug discovery and clean energy.

Funding for the AI Research Resource has risen to £300 million from the previously announced £100 million in September, with the aim of enhancing UK AI proficiency. This will strengthen Isambard-AI, anticipated to be the UK's most sophisticated computer located at the University of Bristol. It is projected to operate at a speed tenfold of the UK's present fastest device. Additionally, this investment will link Isambard-AI to a recently introduced Cambridge supercomputer named ‘Dawn’. This system, a collaboration between Dell and UK SME StackHPC, will utilise over 1,000 Intel chips with water-cooling features to diminish power usage. It aims to commence operations in the forthcoming two months, focusing on advancements in fusion energy, healthcare, and climate modelling.

Under the leadership of Ian Hogarth, the Frontier AI Taskforce will be granted preferential access to these interconnected computing tools to aid its endeavours in reducing the potential hazards of advanced AI. This includes threats to national security arising from bioweapon development and cyberattacks.

During the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan stated that as Frontier AI models grow increasingly potent, it is imperative for the UK to adopt this technology with caution. By doing so, it can reap the benefits for improved health, convenience, and longevity. To achieve this, it is essential to equip the nation's top researchers with the necessary tools to understand this intricate technology, thereby establishing the UK as a global pioneer in AI safety.

Isambard-AI in Bristol, initially announced in September, will be supported by a £225 million fund, incorporating 5,000 advanced AI chips from Nvidia. Constructed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, this supercomputer will offer over 200 'petaflops', signifying its ability to perform 200,000,000,000,000,000 calculations every second. In contrast, modern smartphones currently deliver mere trillions of calculations each second.