The Government plans to spend nearly £1 billion to build a new supercomputer to help research into artificial intelligence. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said a "quantum strategy" outlines the UK's ambition to be a "world-leading quantum-enabled economy by 2033".
The money will be used to create an exascale supercomputer and set up an AI Research Resource, with the first funds being available this year. “Because AI needs computing horsepower, I today commit around £900 million of funding to implement the recommendations in the independent Future Of Compute Review for an exascale supercomputer,” Mr Hunt told MPs on Wednesday (March 15) while delivering his Budget.
“The power that AI’s complex algorithms need can also be provided by quantum computing. So today we publish a quantum strategy which will set our vision to be a world-leading quantum-enabled economy by 2033 with a research and innovation programme totalling £2.5 billion.”
Mr Hunt also announced a new annual £1 million prize for the person or the team in the UK that does the most to further AI research.
“The world’s first stored-programme computer was built at the University of Manchester in 1948, and was known as the ‘Manchester baby’,” Mr Hunt said. “75 years on, the baby has grown up, so I will call this new national AI award ‘the Manchester Prize’ in its honour.”
The Government said that, at present, the UK’s most powerful computer ranks just 28th in the world.
