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The British government has shelved £1.3 billion worth of funding originally intended for artificial intelligence and technological innovation. Exascale supercomputer The University of Edinburgh and £500 million for Artificial Intelligence Research Resources — Another supercomputer facility includes Isambard and Dawn at Cambridge University.
The funding was originally provided by the then Conservative government in November Autumn StatementHowever, on Friday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology told BBC The Labour government, which came to power in early July, is reallocating funds.
The Conservative government claims the money was promised by the Conservative government but never paid in the budget. A spokesman said in a statement: “Faced with billions of pounds of unpaid commitments, the government is making difficult but necessary spending decisions across all departments. This is essential to restoring economic stability and delivering the country’s growth mission.
“We have launched our AI Opportunities Action Plan, which will identify how to strengthen our computing infrastructure to better meet our needs and consider how AI and other emerging technologies can best support our new industrial strategy.”
£300 million grant for AIRR Already committed And will continue as planned. Part of it has already been invested in the first phase of the “Dawn” supercomputer. RegisterThe BBC said the University of Edinburgh has spent £31 million on housing for its exascale computer project, which was made a priority by the previous government.
A DSIT spokesperson added: “We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK.”
AIRR and the exascale supercomputer are designed to help researchers analyze advanced AI models to ensure their safety and drive breakthroughs in areas such as drug discovery, climate modeling and clean energy. protectorProfessor Sir Peter Matheson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, is urgently seeking a meeting with the Science and Technology Secretary to discuss the future of exascale computing.
The cancellation of funding goes against the government’s commitments made in its AI action plan
The shelved funding appears to go against a July 26 statement by Peter Carr, the UK’s secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, in which he said he would “put artificial intelligence at the heart of the government’s agenda to boost growth and improve public services”.
He is in New Artificial Intelligence Action PlanOnce developed, the strategy will provide guidance on how the country can best develop its AI industry.
Next month, Matt Clifford, one of the lead organizers of the November event AI Safety Summitwill issue recommendations on how to accelerate the development and drive adoption of useful AI products and services. An AI Opportunity Unit composed of experts will also be established to implement these recommendations.
The government announcement identifies infrastructure as one of the “key enablers” of the action plan. Subject to the necessary funding, exascale and AIRR supercomputers will provide the massive processing power needed to handle complex AI models, thereby accelerating AI research and application development.
look: Four ways to boost the UK’s digital transformation
Despite funding changes, AI Act will maintain focus on continued innovation
Although the British Labour government withdrew its investment in supercomputers, it also took some measures to support artificial intelligence innovation.
On July 31, Kyle told executives from Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and other major tech companies that Artificial Intelligence Act We will focus on large ChatGPT-style base models created by a few companies. Financial Times.
He assured the tech giants that this would not be a “Christmas tree bill” that would add more regulation through the legislative process. Restricting AI innovation in the UK could have significant economic consequences, with a Microsoft report finding that extending the time it takes to roll out AI by five years could Costing more than £150 billionThe International Monetary Fund says the AI action plan could increase annual productivity by 1.5%.
Sources to the FT have heard from Kyle who confirmed that the AI Act will focus on two things: making voluntary agreements between companies and the government legally binding, and turning the AI Safety Institute into an independent government agency.
AI Bill Priority 1: Make voluntary agreements between the government and big tech companies legally binding
During the AI Safety Summit, representatives from 28 countries signed the Bletchley Declaration, pledging to jointly manage and mitigate the risks posed by AI while ensuring safe and responsible development and deployment.
Eight companies involved in AI development, including OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, voluntarily agreed to work with the signatories to allow them to evaluate their latest models before they are released so that the declaration can be adhered to. The companies also voluntarily agreed to Frontier AI Safety Commitment in May Artificial Intelligence Seoul Summitincluding halting the development of AI systems that pose serious, unmitigated risks.
According to the Financial Times, British government officials want to make the agreements legally binding so that companies cannot withdraw if they lose commercial viability.
AI Bill Focus 2: Transforming the AI Safety Institute into an independent government agency
The UK’s AISI was launched at the AI Safety Summit, with the main goals of assessing the risks and vulnerabilities of existing AI systems, conducting basic AI safety research, and sharing information with other national and international actors.
The Financial Times reported that a government official said that making the American Iron and Steel Institute an independent organization would reassure companies that they would not be “coerced” by the government while also strengthening their position.
UK government stance on AI regulation and innovation remains unclear
The Labour government has shown evidence of both restricting and supporting the development of AI in the UK
As it reallocates AI funding, it has already hinted at tougher restrictions on AI developers. In July, it announced The speech of the king The government will “seek to develop appropriate legislation to impose requirements on those working to develop the most powerful AI models.”
This supports Labour’s election manifesto, which promised to bring “binding regulation to the small number of companies that develop the most powerful AI models”. After the speech, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also told the House of Commons that his government “will harness the power of AI while strengthening safety frameworks.”
On the other hand, the government promised tech companies that the AI bill would not be too strict and seemed to have reservations about the introduction of the bill. It was previously expected that the bill would be included in Designated legislation This was announced in the King’s Speech.
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