Scotland will be home to the UK's most powerful supercomputer to
drive forward innovations that grow our economy and ensure people
are better off, putting Edinburgh at heart of the UK's plans to
unlock a decade of national renewal through artificial
intelligence.
The news comes after the Prime Minister kicked off London Tech
Week by unveiling £1 billion of extra funding to scale up the
country's AI compute
power twenty-fold. Following that announcement,
the Chancellor has now confirmed up to a further £750
million to build the UK's new national supercomputer at the
University of Edinburgh, strengthening Britain's position as
an AI-maker and
research power, with researchers and start-ups backed to deliver
new waves of innovations and discoveries.
Edinburgh's new supercomputer will give scientists from across
the UK the compute power they need for cutting edge research and
making the next big breakthrough – whether that's personalised
medical treatments, making air travel more sustainable, or
modelling climate change. This will form part of the Chancellor's
commitment to investing in Britain's renewal at the Spending
Review today (Wednesday), ensuring the British people are better
off – from better health to economic growth.
The supercomputer will work alongside the AI research resource, a network
of the UK's most powerful supercomputers that were built to
bolster scientific research. The AI Research Resource, which is
due to come into operation soon, is already being used to
research Alzheimer's vaccines and treatments for cancer by
simulating how drugs work inside the body and ‘testing' millions
of potential drugs virtually to speed up the creation of new
medicines.
Ahead of that moment, the Isambard system has this week
been ranked in the top ten globally and top 5 in Europe for
publicly available supercomputers. According to the latest Top500
rankings, it also ranks as a leader in terms of efficiency,
setting a clear benchmark of how the UK government is delivering
on its AI ambitions
while driving forward its mission to become a clean energy
superpower.
UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology,
said:
From the shipyards of the Clyde to developments in steam engine
technology, Scottish trailblazers were central to the industrial
revolution – so the next great industrial leap through
AI and technology
should be no different.
Basing the UK's most powerful supercomputer in Edinburgh,
Scotland will now be a major player in driving forward the next
breakthroughs that put our Plan for Change into action.
Chancellor of the Exchequer said:
We are investing in Scotland's renewal, so working people are
better off.
Strong investment in our science and technology sector is part of
our Plan for Change to kickstart economic growth, and as the home
of the UK's largest supercomputer, Scotland will be an integral
part of that journey.
Secretary of State for Scotland said:
This is a landmark moment and will place Scotland at the
forefront of the UK's technological revolution. The £750 million
investment in Edinburgh's new supercomputer places Scotland at
the cutting edge of computing power globally.
This will see Scotland playing a leading role in creating
breakthroughs that have a global benefit - such as new medicines,
health advances, and climate change solutions. This is the Plan
for Change – delivering real opportunities and economic growth
for communities across Scotland.
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh,
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson said:
This significant investment will have a profoundly positive
impact on the UK's global standing, and we welcome the vast
opportunities it will create for research and innovation.
Building on the University of Edinburgh's expertise and
experience over decades, this powerful supercomputer will drive
economic growth by supporting advancements in medicine,
bolstering emerging industries and public services, and unlocking
the full potential of AI. We look forward to working
alongside the UK government and other partners to deliver this
critical national resource.
The new supercomputer will vastly exceed the capacity of the UK's
current national supercomputer, ARCHER2.
The government will set out more details about the system in our
upcoming Compute Roadmap, which we will publish this summer. It
will outline the government's strategic approach to building
world-class compute infrastructure in the UK - which will include
the new national supercomputer in Edinburgh and our investment to
expand the AI
Research Resource by at least 20 times by 2030.
DSIT
and UKRI will
work to ensure that the Edinburgh supercomputer's system size
represents value for money on our investment and meets the needs
of the diverse user groups of the UK's compute infrastructure.
