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The government’s new AI plan aims to boost productivity, create jobs, and modernise public services amid a slowing economy
The UK government has announced a plan to integrate AI into key sectors, aiming to boost economic growth, streamline public services, and create thousands of jobs.
Attempting to take control of the country’s economic conversation after an unsettled past week in the financial markets, the AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched today, includes 50 recommendations from tech adviser Matt Clifford, all of which have been adopted by the government. The measures focus on fostering AI innovation, supporting infrastructure development, and accelerating adoption across public and private sectors.
The plan comes alongside £14 billion in private-sector investments from companies including Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl. Combined, these projects are expected to create over 13,000 jobs:
- Vantage Data Centres will invest £12 billion in expanding data centres across the UK, including a major facility in Wales, creating 11,500 jobs.
- Nscale plans to build the UK’s largest sovereign AI data centre in Essex, contributing $2.5 billion.
- Kyndryl will create a tech hub in Liverpool, adding 1,000 jobs over the next three years.
AI Growth Zones, the first of which will be in Culham, Oxfordshire will be established to streamline planning processes for AI-related infrastructure deployment. These Zones will focus on areas clearly able to meet data centres’ high power demands and also featuring strong local government support. This, the government says, will help these areas transform into the backbone of the UK’s digital economy.
“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,” said Prime Minster Keir Starmer in a press release.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge the Plan for Change. That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services.”
AI is already in use in the NHS, improving diagnoses and patient care. The new plan seeks to expand its role across the public sector, including reducing administrative workloads for teachers and enabling automated solutions for infrastructure maintenance, such as pothole detection.
The Prime Minister detailed the government’s vision for AI in an op-ed for the Financial Times, highlighting the potential for AI to raise productivity, reduce administrative burdens, and create high-quality jobs.
“Take waiting times in the NHS. We will use AI to cut them by filling appointments patients can no longer make and quickly rescheduling,” the piece read.
The government will also increase public computing capacity twentyfold, starting with the development of a new supercomputer with enough AI power to play itself at chess half a million times a second. This will “supercharge our capacity to power AI products,” read the release.
A National Data Library is being created to facilitate secure access to public data for AI research, while an AI Energy Council will work with industry to address the energy demands of the technology.
The plan emphasises the need to establish the UK as a hub for AI innovation cementing its place as the third largest AI market in the world. Measures include creating a dedicated team to attract investment and ensure businesses have access to essential resources like data and energy. The government has also tasked its departments with prioritising AI adoption in their sectors.
The Action Plan is part of the government’s broader Industrial Strategy, with further details to be outlined in the upcoming Digital and Technology Sector Plan. The announcement builds on previous government initiatives, such as the creation of the AI Safety Institute in November 2023 under Rishi Sunak’s leadership. The Safety Institute focused on mitigating risks associated with frontier AI models, including issues like bias, misinformation, and extreme scenarios where AI could become uncontrollable. Sunak also announced a £400 million allocation toward AI chips and supercomputers, with funding drawn from a £900 million package for AI research resources. The initiative aimed to bolster the UK’s global standing in AI innovation and safety
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