Edinburgh is set to become the home of the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, as part of a government initiative to drive economic growth and scientific innovation through artificial intelligence.
The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s launch of London Tech Week, during which he pledged an additional £1bn to increase the UK’s AI computing capacity twenty-fold.
Building on this, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed up to £750m in funding to establish the new national supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh.
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The investment is part of the government’s broader commitment to national renewal and positioning the UK as a global leader in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
The new facility is expected to support a range of research and development efforts, from personalised medicine and sustainable aviation to climate modelling.
The Edinburgh-based supercomputer will surpass the capabilities of the UK’s current national supercomputer, ARCHER2, and will form a key component of the country’s upgraded AI Research Resource.
This network of advanced computing systems is already being used for groundbreaking work in medical science, including simulating drug behaviour to accelerate the development of treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.
The Isambard system, which is part of this broader AI research infrastructure, was recently ranked among the top ten publicly available supercomputers globally and among the top five in Europe, according to the latest Top500 list.
It also ranks highly for energy efficiency, underlining the government’s ambition to support both AI development and clean energy leadership.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), along with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will oversee the delivery of the project.
Peter Kyle, 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.”
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