UK Govt. to invest £100 million to build AI chips

The UK government will invest £100 million in the manufacturing of computer chips that enable artificial intelligence. In an effort to create a national AI resource in Britain that is comparable to those being developed in the US and other countries, taxpayer money will be utilized. It is anticipated that the Govt will place orders with significant semiconductor manufacturers like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel for essential parts.  

The government is in advanced stages of an order of up to 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia. But it has been estimated that the £100m ($127 million) offered by the government is far too low relative to investment by peers in the EU, US and China. The components due to be ordered, GPUs – also known as graphics cards – are a key part of chips’ capacity for processing: critical for being able to run complex actions such as those required by AI. 

But the fears that UK government action may prove too little, too late are rising in industry and Whitehall. The UK accounts for just 0.5% of global semiconductor sales. 

Rishi Sunak’s government revealed plans in May to invest £1bn over 10 years in semiconductor research, design and production, a step dwarfed by the US’s $52bn (£41bn) Chips Act, and EU subsidies of €43bn (£37bn). The UK may be susceptible if progress is slowed down as a result of comparatively weak investment as geopolitical conflicts over AI chip technology rise.