The Isambard-AI and Dawn supercomputers, which will be developed at the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, respectively, will be utilised to analyse advanced AI models to assess safety features and create breakthroughs in drug discovery and clean energy
The University of Bristol and HPE to develop the Isambard-AI supercomputer. (Credit: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP)
The UK government has announced an investment of £300m to develop a new national AI Research Resource (AIRR) for the country in a move to bolster the UK’s artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputing.
The new funding will help the government’s Frontier AI Taskforce and British researchers to be equipped with supercomputers for analysing the safety of advanced AI models.
According to the government, the AIRR will feature two supercomputers that will provide researchers with access to resources with over 30 times the capacity of the UK’s current largest public AI computing tools.
The Isambard-AI and Dawn supercomputers, which will be developed at the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge, respectively, will be utilised to analyse advanced AI models to assess safety features and create breakthroughs in drug discovery and clean energy.
Both will be operating from the summer of 2024, said the government.
As part of the new investment, the University of Bristol and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have been awarded £225m to develop the Isambard-AI supercomputer.
HPE will build and deliver the new system with HPE Cray EX supercomputers and more than 5,000 NVIDIA GH200 superchips.
The Isambard-AI will reach up to 200 quadrillion calculations per second with advanced technologies and design.
The government’s investment will also connect the Isambard-AI to the Dawn, which is delivered through a partnership with Dell and UK SME StackHPC.
UK Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “Frontier AI models are becoming exponentially more powerful.
“At our AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park, we have made it clear that Britain is grasping the opportunity to lead the world in adopting this technology safely so we can put it to work and lead healthier, easier and longer lives.
“This means giving Britain’s leading researchers and scientific talent access to the tools they need to delve into how this complicated technology works. That is why we are investing in building UK’s supercomputers, making sure we cement our place as a world leader in AI safety.”