According to CNBC, the government is primarily focused on expanding data center capacity across the U.K. to support developers of powerful AI models that rely on high-performance computing equipment hosted in remote locations.
A target has been set to increase "sovereign," or public sector, compute capacity in the UK by twentyfold by 2030.
To further bolster Britain's computing infrastructure, the government has committed to establishing several AI "growth zones," where planning permission rules will be relaxed to allow for the creation of new data centres.
Additionally, an "AI Energy Council" comprising industry leaders from both energy and AI sectors will be formed to explore the role of renewable and low-carbon energy sources, such as nuclear power.
The UK plans to leverage the AI growth zones and the newly established National Data Library to connect public institutions, including universities, to enhance the country's ability to create "sovereign" AI models that are not reliant on Silicon Valley.
Last month, the government announced a consultation on measures to regulate the use of copyrighted content to train AI models.
Of course, the UK has a few problems in reaching these ambitious targets. It is arrive late to the scene and with very little in the way of expertise. But as the more patriotic Brits will tell you, the country was one of the few in Europe that didn’t have an empire in the 16th century and it managed to get the biggest.
