The UK government has announced up to £60 million in funding for two new artificial intelligence research laboratories led by the University of Oxford and University College London (UCL) to develop next-generation AI technologies and strengthen the UK’s leadership in artificial intelligence.
UCL will lead the Science of Fundamental AI Research (SOFAIR) Lab, which will focus on developing next-generation open-source AI technologies designed to run on widely available hardware. It seeks to expand and diversify the underlying technology and systems that AI runs on, as modern AI relies heavily on a small number of popular architectures trained on vast data, requiring immense computing infrastructure.
The lab is led by Professor David Barber and will bring together researchers from computer science, mathematics, statistics and neuroscience to explore new ways to design AI systems. It will also explore new AI architectures designed to run on widely available hardware.
“While current AI systems are impressive, many still suffer from basic issues such as inaccurate responses to questions. These systems often use similar underlying architectures, so SOFAIR will bring together the broader sciences and fresh ideas to create a new generation of open-source models. This will reduce dependency on the small number of model providers, boosting UK sovereignty and its position as a global player in AI,” Professor David Barber said.
On the other hand, the British Open-ended Learning and Discovery (BOLD) Lab, led by Associate Professor Jakob Foerster, will develop systems that can learn more efficiently, adapt to new situations and navigate physical spaces, helping turn research into tools that can be used in workplaces, infrastructure and public services.
Professor Foerster said the UK cannot win the global AI race simply by trying to outspend the largest technology companies on data and computation, stressing that BOLD will discover new ways to build AI that are more efficient, open and better aligned with human needs.
“By focusing on new paradigms for learning, rather than only scaling existing methods, we aim to help secure the UK’s sovereign capability in AI and ensure that academic research can shape the future of the field,” he added.
The government said UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will support the labs over the next six years, alongside access to large-scale computing power worth tens of millions of pounds to run and train AI models.
The announcement expands the original plan from one AI research lab to two, increasing the planned investment from £40 million to up to £60 million.
“These new labs will lead the world in the fundamental work that is set to make AI cheaper, more practical and easier to adopt so more businesses and public services across the UK can benefit,” said AI Minister Kanishka Narayan.
According to the government, both labs will invest in top AI researchers at every career stage, with £2 million per lab earmarked for hiring at least 10 doctoral students, helping to build and grow the UK’s talent. The labs will also work closely with existing leaders in British AI research, including the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI’s AI research hubs.
The funding forms part of the UKRI AI Strategy, which is a £1.6 billion plan to strengthen the UK’s leadership in AI over the next four years.
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