British Prime Minister Keir Starmer today announced a 50-point plan to transform the United Kingdom into a “world leader” in artificial intelligence (AI) and deliver a “decade of national renewal”.
Starmer expects his newly released economic blueprint, dubbed the AI Opportunities Action Plan, to create dedicated AI growth zones to “turbocharge growth” and “boost living standards”.
The first of these growth zones has been earmarked for Culham, Oxfordshire, which will have planning approvals fast tracked the for the development of data centres and better access to the energy grid.
Based on the 50 recommendations made by venture capitalist Matt Clifford in a report commissioned by the Labour Party government last year, the blueprint proposes a 20-fold increase in state-owned AI computing capacity.
Also included within the 50 recommendations are plans to set up a National Data Library and a dedicated AI Energy Council.
More money in punters pockets
Starmer expects the AI Opportunities Action Plan to lead to more money in the pockets of working people and speed up planning consultations to get Britain building again.
“Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications,” Starmer said.
“But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by.”
Assuming AI can boost productivity by as much as 1.5% - a figure established by the IMF - Starmer believes these gains could be worth up to an average £47 billion to the UK annually over a decade.
Three major tech companies
Starmer’s AI announcements follow recent decisions by three major tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – to commit to £14 billion to building the UK’s AI infrastructure, which is expected to deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK.
While Vantage Data Centres plans to invest over £12 billion in data centres across the UK to create over 11,500 jobs, Kyndryl plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years.
Then there’s Nscale – one of the UK’s leading AI companies – which has announced a $2.5 billion investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the same period.
The company has also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026.
Within an opinion piece in the Financial Times today, Starmer reminded readers the UK doesn’t need to walk down a US or an EU path on AI regulation.
“… we can go our own way, taking a distinctively British approach that will test AI long before we regulate, so that everything we do will be proportionate and grounded in the science,” he said.
“We will establish a gold standard data access regime… and we will bulldoze through the ludicrous blockages in our planning system that stop billions from being invested in the data centres and grid connectors that AI depends upon.”