Fresh UK-EU collaboration on AI to unlock new avenues for innovation and research

Healthcare treatments, clean energy technologies and advanced breakthroughs that could transform lives across the UK are within reach, as the government backs plans for a new AI collaboration with Europe - driving growth and delivering on the government's Plan for Change. 

From today, public research organisations can apply to host the UK's AI Factory Antenna – a facility that, if approved, would link British research expertise to its advanced supercomputers across Europe.  

Access to cutting-edge compute power – the high-performance processing capability needed to handle vast data and complex models – is the engine of progress in AI. Greater collaboration will help address global challenges like climate change and disease, support the development of advanced AI systems used in healthcare and energy, and drive economic growth – the government's core mission under the Plan for Change. That is why expanding international collaboration on compute is a key recommendation of the UK government's AI Opportunities Action Plan – a blueprint to accelerate the use of AI across the economy. 

Today's announcement follows the new UK-EU agreement, secured by the Prime Minister earlier this month, which will boost British jobs, help businesses thrive, and put money back in people's pockets. It underlines the UK's renewed partnership with Europe - delivering real opportunities, driving economic growth, and building stronger relationships in the national interest. 

Minister for AI, Feryal Clark, said: 

Supercomputers are the turbo-chargers of discovery. By strengthening our partnership with Europe, we're giving British innovators the compute power to solve climate and health challenges, grow the economy, and deliver our Plan for Change. 

This is about more than faster processing – it's about putting the UK at the forefront of global AI. With access to some of Europe's most advanced systems, our researchers and startups will be equipped to lead on cutting-edge breakthroughs and strengthen Britain's role as a trusted partner in international AI development.

This expression of interest, open to individual public research organisations or consortia, will identify the UK's government-backed bid to apply to EuroHPC's call – with up to €5 million available.  

If successful, the chosen organisation will become the UK's AI Factory Antenna, acting as the gateway to top European supercomputers through a partnership with an AI Factory on the continent - a site combining EuroHPC compute with access to data, training and software support.   

This will enable UK scientists, startups and public institutions to build larger, more complex AI models - shortening development cycles, accelerating innovation, and creating high-skilled jobs across the country. 

The programme builds on the UK's growing momentum in compute infrastructure, with £44 billion invested in data centres since July last year, and forms part of wider efforts to ensure the UK has the compute needed to thrive in the age of AI. 

This summer, the government will confirm the next sites for AI Growth Zones - specialist clusters designed to host AI infrastructure, unlock billions in private investment, and create thousands of skilled jobs. These actions will be underpinned by the Compute Strategy, a ten-year roadmap to increase national compute capacity twenty-fold, due later this year. 

Notes to editors

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) is an EU-led initiative that pools resources from the EU and participating countries to develop European computing infrastructure and research capabilities. It brings together world-class supercomputing systems from 35 countries, including all 27 EU member states, Norway and Turkey, to drive the next generation of computing technologies. 

The UK joined the EuroHPC JU in May 2024, giving UK researchers free access to EuroHPC's supercomputers via the UK's association to Horizon Europe. 

The Expression of Interest (EOI) launched today invites eligible UK public research organisations or consortia to apply to host the UK's AI Factory Antenna. If successful, the host organisation will form a partnership with an EU-based AI Factory - a site that combines EuroHPC compute with access to data, training and software support for AI development. 

Applications must be submitted by Wednesday 11 June. The EOI process will identify a single organisation or consortium to be endorsed by the UK government for submission to EuroHPC's call for AI Factory Antennae. The UK government is allocating up to £2.5 million in funding, which will be matched by the EU if the application is successful. 

This is part of a broader effort by the UK government to expand collaboration with the EuroHPC JU -  a recommendation of the UK's AI Opportunities Action Plan. Earlier this year, the government also committed to match-fund upcoming EuroHPC research grants for UK researchers and businesses.