The First Minster of Wales has welcomed today's
announcement from the UK Government of a multi-billion pound
investment in Artificial Intelligence.
The UK Opportunities Action Plan, launched by Prime Minister
today, aims to drive economic
growth, support public services and use intelligent technology to
improve people's every day lives.
Wales is uniquely placed to benefit from the AI infrastructure
plans, with work already underway to develop tech hubs, shared
resources and data centres.
As part of the investment announced today, US technology giant
Vantage Data Centers plans to invest over £12 billion across the
UK, resulting in the creation of over 11,500 jobs. The Welsh
Government has been working closely with Vantage since 2020 to
support the development of its data centres in Wales.
It is expected that the lion's share of the new investment from
Vantage will be in Wales. The biggest investment will be in
Bridgend, where the company plans to develop the former Ford
factory site to become one of Europe's largest data centre
campuses.
The First Minister is keen to ensure Wales benefits from the
investment in AI, saying:
“Today's announcement, which includes a multi-billion pound
investment in AI by some of the world's biggest tech companies,
is a huge boost in confidence for industry in Wales.
“We are seeing that AI is increasingly being used as a power for
good, whether that's increasing productivity or bringing smarter
solutions to everyday problems.
“There can be enormous benefits to the economy in establishing
the tech and wider infrastructure here in Wales. Industry leaders
recognise that the conditions are right in Wales, with a
government that will do what it can to make these plans a
reality.
“This won't happen overnight and it's important that the
infrastructure, data, skills and talent is in place to ensure
that we all benefit from these solutions. There's no question
that Wales is in an excellent position to benefit, given the work
that's already in progress here.”
The Economy Secretary is leading a review to
explore how Wales can capitalise on opportunities and develop
Wales' strengths in the development of AI-based technologies.
Over the past year, the Welsh Government has worked with other
organisations to develop guidance to support Welsh public
bodies in adopting AI in a responsible, safe and ethical way.
Wales has already seen evidence of the value of AI implementation
in diagnostic care in the NHS, with a digital pathology platform
for prostate and breast cancer detection led by Betsi Cadwaladr
seeing a 13% increase in prostate cancer detection rates.
Estyn, the school inspectorate, is also undertaking a review of
the use of Generative AI in schools, which will explore the
potential benefits to schools, while also considering the
challenges they pose.
