New backing for open-source AI builders, data centre design challenge and robotics partnership
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Computing power worth over £500,000 announced for innovators to
turn prototypes into AI tools that improve public
services from libraries to the NHS A new challenge to redesign data
centres, making them more attractive, sustainable and better for
local areas Clear guidance for businesses on using robots safely
alongside people at work Britain must back the builders who will
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Britain must back the builders who will shape the AI revolution, with the tools, the support and the routes to scale, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said today. In a keynote speech at the AI Summit during London Tech Week (Wednesday 10 June), the Minister argued that the central question of AI is not just what the technology can do, but who gets to shape it. Last weekend, DSIT partnered with NVIDIA to host the Hack for Impact hackathon, bringing together hundreds of open-source AI developers from across the UK to build tools tackling challenges across public services and city infrastructure, using open data from the City of London. Open source is built by communities of developers working together, improving each other's work and moving faster as a result. For the strongest projects from the hackathon, Minister Narayan announced:
Winning teams announced today range from those making it easier for Londoners to find essential local services like libraries, toilets and polling stations, to helping NHS patients on waiting lists get back on track by identifying gaps in care and drafting follow-up communications. Others focused on supporting businesses, with tools to identify unclaimed grants and warn of disruptions like roadworks or transport delays, while improving emergency resilience by using satellite connectivity to keep 999 services running when mobile networks fail. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: From the World Wide Web to AlphaFold, Britain has always chosen to open up new technologies, not close them down. The best AI tools in the world won't be built behind closed doors by a handful of companies. They'll be built by people who ship code, share it, and let others make it better. We want those people choosing to build here in Britain. And we want them to know that this is a country that backs them to succeed. The UK is already home to a thriving community of open-source AI developers, and government is already working with them. i.AI has brought in top AI experts from UK universities through an Open-Source Fellowship Programme to build open-source AI tools that improve public services, from education to policing. This package goes further, backing Britain to become the world's go-to destination for open-source AI builders. As the UK scales its AI infrastructure, Minister Narayan also announced a new RIBA x DSIT Data Centre Design Challenge, the first government-backed design competition of its kind, working with the Royal Institute of British Architects to ensure that as data centres grow, they deliver for the communities around them too. The Challenge will ask architects, designers, engineers and communities to collaborate to raise the bar on high-quality design, meaningful public engagement and sustainable environmental outcomes, reimagining data centres not just as critical national infrastructure, but as places of genuine civic value. Minister Narayan also announced a new partnership on robotics. The Regulatory Innovation Office and the Health & Safety Executive will work with industry to deliver regulatory clarity for collaborative robots starting with the first joint guidance on how robots can work safely alongside people in the workplace. Notes to editors: Hackathon winners include:
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