Today’s announcement (January 13, 2025) by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer supports all 50 recommendations from Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.
To support the AI strategy, AI Growth Zones will be established to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure. The first of these will be in Culham, Oxfordshire
Public compute capacity will increase by twentyfold to give the UK the processing power needed to fully embrace AI, and to that end, work will start immediately on a new supercomputer
Also included in the plan is the establishment of a new team to build the UK’s sovereign capabilities, and a new National Data Library will be established to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology added that a dedicated AI Energy Council chaired by the science and energy secretaries will also be established, working with energy companies to understand the energy demands and challenges of AI.
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In a statement, Starmer, 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.
“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.”
The announcement comes as three tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – have committed to £14bn investment in the UK to build the AI infrastructure the UK needs to harness the potential of this technology and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. This follows the £25bn in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit in October 2024 and £25bn of new investment in data centres announced since the government took office in July 2024.
The IMF estimates that AI can boost productivity by 1.5 per cent a year. If fully realised, these gains could be worth up to an average £47bn to the UK each year over a decade.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Sir John Lazar CBE FREng, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “The Academy stands ready to mobilise our extraordinary community, regional network, fellows, business, and awardees covering all aspects of engineering to help and support this national mission so that everyone benefits. As we drive AI adoption across government, it is vital that departments collaborate with industry of all sizes and the people who will be affected, to ensure positive social, economic and environmental benefits are realised for all citizens rapidly but with a long-term view.”
“Just as the government is investing heavily in realising the opportunities presented by AI, it must also invest in responding to AI’s negative impacts now and in the future,” added Gaia Marcus, director at the Ada Lovelace Institute. “It is critical that the government look beyond a narrow subset of extreme risks and bring forward a credible vehicle and roadmap for addressing broader AI harms. This will benefit all people at risk of those harms, and secure their trust so that the positive impacts of these technologies can be felt widely.”
What impact do you think the government’s Action Plan will have? Let us know in the Comments below.
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