The UK government has announced plans to fund a new supercomputer for AI research at the University of Bristol, timing its announcement to coincide with the UK’s AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park near London.
The supercomputer will be one of the most powerful in Europe and will help drive innovation in AI.
It will be called “Isambard-AI,” named after engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The computer will be powered by 5,448 of NVIDIA’s GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and will enable the training of large language models at the forefront of AI.
The UK government is investing £300 million to fund the building of the computer.
Bristol already hosts advanced computing technology like the Isambard 3 supercomputer.
The Isambard-AI cluster will help researchers maximize the potential of AI and support work into its safe and ethical use.
This builds on Bristol’s expertise in operating cutting-edge computational facilities.
The University of Bristol considers it integral to establishing the UK as an international AI hub.
The AI Summit in Bletchley Park brought together world leaders including US Vice President Kamala Harris, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, and host UK PM Rishi Sunak.
It also included government officials from 28 nations including many European nations, and notably China, all of whom signed a charter for the safe use of AI worldwide.
Rounding out the “who’s who” was a long list of AI CEOs, as well as executives from some of the largest tech firms in the world.
With the announcement of funding for the Isambard-AI and the success of the Global AI summit, Prime Minister Sunak seeks to place the UK in the center of the discussion around AI.
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