- The UK’s AI sector is attracting around £200m in private investment a day
- The news follows the recent launch of the UK Government’s AI Action Plan
- Plan aims to make UK a global leader in AI
Since the Labor Government took office in July 2024, the UK AI sector has attracted an average of £200 million per day in private sector funding, equivalent to approximately £8.3 million per hour, according to a new report from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. has stated.
The news appears to support the British government’s recent launch of a masterplan to “unlock AI” and develop capabilities by “unlocking” public data to train AI models, including the designation of “AI Growth Zones” to accelerate AI infrastructure and the construction of data centers.
Since then, investments worth more than £14 billion and thousands of jobs have been confirmed, the report said.
Britain’s “new plan”
“Attracting more than £14 billion in new investment and thousands of new jobs since we launched our new plan from businesses around the world, the message is clear: the attraction of the UK as a magnet for innovation and growth of AI will only get stronger. “said the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Peter Kyle.
The report comes shortly after the UK Government announced a £25 billion investment in Britain’s data center infrastructure by early 2025, bringing the total to £39 billion. sterling in six months. This is despite the expected strain this will place on the National Grid and the six-fold increase in demand this will likely cause.
The aim of the project is to make the UK a hub for AI innovation and create jobs and growth by implementing AI algorithms in private industries. Additionally, the UK government is funding 120 projects that will test AI to increase productivity and efficiency.
Examples of this include bakeries that can use an algorithm to predict how much product will be needed and tools to predict where potholes will form so they can fix them faster.
The investment comes with some warnings from experts, pointing to excessive energy and water use by data centers and the dangers of cybersecurity threats.
