AI Research Resource funding opportunity launches

A funding opportunity to support new advanced supercomputers for artificial intelligence (AI) research launches today.

The funding opportunity is managed by UK Research and Innovation on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

It will identify and select organisations with the ability to host and operate large-scale compute systems for AI applications.

It follows the 2023 Autumn Statement in which the Chancellor announced “a further £500 million in compute for AI over the next two financial years” to deliver an expansion of the AI Research Resource programme.

R&D ecosystem

The additional investment reflects the prominence of AI and compute in the government’s plans for the future of the research and development (R&D) ecosystem.

This comes in addition to the £300 million for the first phase of the new AI Research Resource, as previously announced, in response to the independent Future of Compute review, published in 2023.

The review set out a series of recommendations to bolster the UK’s compute infrastructure and unlock benefits for the research and innovation ecosystem, the wider society and the economy.

Call for submissions

The call for submissions runs from 24 January to 13 February 2024.

A webinar will be hosted on 31 January 2024. This will provide potential applicants a chance to ask questions about the funding opportunity.

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