The United Kingdom announced on November 1 after the conclusion of the first day of the global AI Safety Summit that it would increase funding for the purchase of two AI supercomputers to £300 million ($363.57 million).
These supercomputers, also known as “AI Research Resources,” are intended to support research into creating safer advanced AI models, the main theme of the summit.
In a post on X, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented that as leading AI models become more powerful, this investment will “ensure that UK scientific talent has the tools it needs to make the most advanced AI models safe.”
Frontier AI models have become dramatically more powerful.
This investment will ensure that British scientific talent has the tools it needs to make the most advanced models of AI safe.
It strengthens our position as a global leader in AI safety https://t.co/07zqNDmkbp
– Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 1, 2023
The two new supercomputers will provide UK researchers with more than 30 times the power of the country’s largest existing general AI computing tools. The computers are supposed to be operational by summer 2024.
This development also supports the UK’s fastest computer which will be Isambard-AI. It will be built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and equipped with 5,000 advanced Nvidia AI chips.
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The second device, called “Dawn,” will be created in collaboration with Dell and will be powered by 1,000 Intel artificial intelligence chips. In August, it was reported that the UK spent $130 million on AI chips.
According to the UK announcement, Isambard-AI will be able to calculate more than 200 petaflops, or 200,000,000,000,000,000 calculations (200 quadrillion) every second.
US Vice President Kamala Harris was also present on the first day of the summit. Before that, she and Sunak agreed on the need to “cooperate closely on the opportunities and risks posed by frontier AI.”
prime minister @richisonak United States welcomed @VP Kamala Harris to Downing Street today.
Before tomorrow #AISafetySummitThey agreed on the need for close collaboration on the opportunities and risks posed by frontier AI.
We face common challenges together as strong allies
– Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (@10DowningStreet) November 1, 2023
In her speech, Harris warned of “potential cyber attacks on a scale beyond anything we have seen before, even biological weapons manufactured by artificial intelligence, which could put the lives of millions at risk.”
She said the moment was “urgent” to take collective action on the issue.
These statements from the US Vice President came a few days after the Biden administration issued an executive order regarding the artificial intelligence safety standards it plans to implement.
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