Labour government shelves £1.3bn of funding promised by the Conservatives for tech and artificial intelligence projects
The new Labour government has confirmed it is rolling back on tech and AI spending plans announced by the previous Conservative government.
It was back in late November 2023, weeks after hosting the world’s first AI Safety Summit, when the Tory government had announced funding totalling £1.3 billion for technology and artificial intelligence projects.
Included in that announcement was the confirmation by the Conservative government that the UK would invest £225m ($273m) into an artificial intelligence supercomputer, which would be called Isambard-AI, after the 19th century engineer Isambard Brunel.
Image credit University of Cambridge
Funding shelved
The Isambard-AI supercomputer would eventually be connected to a Cambridge supercomputer called Dawn, is the UK’s fastest AI supercomputer, built by the University of Cambridge Research Computing Services, Intel and Dell Technologies.
It comes after the then Chancellor in March 2023 had announced the £2.5bn National Quantum Strategy in the Spring Statement.
But since Labour was voted into power, it has been cutting spending, including the £1.3 billion earmarked for tech and AI projects.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the Labour government has argued that these were “unfunded commitments”.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was quoted the funding had been promised by the previous government but had not been allocated in its spending plans.
“We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK,” a government spokesperson was quoted by the Guardian as saying.
“The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth,” the spokesperson reportedly said.
Terrible blow
It is reported that £300m in funding for the AI Research Resource has already been distributed and continues as planned.
Andrew Griffith, the shadow science secretary, was quoted as saying that when the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year.
“This is a terrible blow to the UK tech sector and could be just the start of Labour cuts,” said Griffith. “During the election, Labour refused to commit to growing the amount the UK spends on research, yet that’s a core part of growing a modern economy. If DSIT can’t get the funds from the Treasury, this means university research can expect to be hit, too.”