Artificial intelligence will be unleashed across the UK to deliver a decade of national renewal under the new AI Opportunities Action Plan.
In a marked move from the previous government’s approach, the Prime Minister is throwing the full weight of Whitehall behind this industry by agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his game-changing AI Opportunities Action Plan.
AI is already being used in hospitals up and down the country to deliver better, faster, and smarter care: spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged quicker.
This is already helping to fulfil the government’s mission of building an NHS that is fit for the future.
Speeding up the lives of working people
Unveiling details of the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, the Prime Minister said AI can transform the lives of working people – it has the potential to speed up planning consultations to get Britain building, help drive down admin for teachers so they can get on with teaching our children, and feed AI through cameras to spot potholes and help improve roads.
Backing AI to the hilt can also lead to more money in the pockets of working people.
The IMF estimates that if AI is fully embraced, it can boost productivity by as much as 1.5 percentage points a year. If fully realised, these gains could be worth up to an average of £47 billion to the UK each year over a decade.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation – revolutionising public services and putting more money in people’s pockets.
For too long, the UK has allowed blockers to control the public discourse and get in the way of growth in this sector.
The plan puts an end to that by introducing new measures that will create dedicated AI Growth Zones that speed up planning permission and give them the energy connections they need to power up AI.
AI Opportunities Action Plan delivers on key approaches
The UK occupies a unique place in the world and can learn from the US and EU’s approach – delivering the dynamism, flexibility and long-term stability that businesses want.
The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said: “The AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.
“The AI Opportunities Action Plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge the Plan for Change.
“That means more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services.”
More and more businesses investing in AI
The AI Opportunities Action Plan comes as three major tech companies have committed to £14bn investment to build the AI infrastructure the UK needs.
The companies will harness the potential of this technology and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. That’s on top of the £25bn in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.
Vantage Data Centres – which is working to build one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales – plans to invest over £12bn in data centres across the UK – creating over 11,500 jobs in the process.
Kyndryl – the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider and a leading IT consultancy – announced plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years.
This new tech hub will share the Government’s ambition to roll AI out across the country to help grow the economy and foster the next generation of talent.
Nscale – one of the UK’s leading AI companies – has announced a $2.5bn investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the next three years. They have also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, by 2026.
UK will be the top location for firms to invest
The AI Opportunities Action Plan includes initiatives that will help make the UK the number one place for AI firms to invest, which is vital if Britain is to be at the forefront of this industry and be a changemaker rather than a change-taker.
The key changes include:
- Forging new AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure.
- Increasing the public compute capacity by twentyfold to give us the processing power we need to fully embrace this new technology.
- A new team will be set up to seize the opportunities of AI and build the UK’s sovereign capabilities.
- Creating a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development.
- A dedicated AI Energy Council chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries will also be established, working with energy companies to understand the energy demands and challenges which will fuel the technology’s development.
The 50 measures will make the UK irresistible to AI firms looking to start, scale, or grow their business. It builds on recent progress in AI that saw £25bn of new investment in data centres announced since the government took office last July.
This AI Opportunities Action Plan is also at the heart of the government’s Industrial Strategy and the first plank of the upcoming Digital and Technology Sector Plan, to be published in the coming months.
