Investments in an AI growth zone and a boost in supercomputing at the nation’s top university will see Scotland “at the forefront of the UK’s technology revolution,” the UK government says.

The announcement comes as part of the UK Government’s Compute Roadmap which aims to deliver on the £1 billion set aside in the Spending Review to increase the UK’s compute infrastructure.

As part of this, the UK will expand the nations’ AI Research Resource (AIRR) twenty-fold over the next five years.

The AIRR will see the UK’s compute capacity increase to 420 AI exaFLOP by 2030 – the equivalent of one billion people spending 13,316 years doing what the full AIRR will do in one second.

A network of National Supercomputing Centres will also be set up across the country, with the first based at the University of Edinburgh, backed by £750m in funding.

The hubs will work as dedicated centres of expertise, connecting users across the country with access to cutting-edge processing power and catalysing greater collaboration between industry, academia and researchers.

The centres will also help build stronger links with existing talent in their respective regions – giving all areas of the country a supporting role in the UK’s ability to be an ‘AI maker’.

The new network, which will grow over time from this first announcement, will form a crucial part of a country wide-drive to position the UK as an AI leader – creating opportunities to accelerate economic growth and transform public services, with increased compute capacity created to power new breakthroughs in AI.

As for the AI Growth Zone, several potential locations have been scouted across Scotland.

The aim of the zones is for the expedition of critical infrastructure deployment as well as providing researchers and businesses with the vast amount of data necessary to achieve AI breakthroughs.

These dedicated AI hotbeds will aim to offer accelerated planning permissions to speed up the roll-out of data centres, which will aim to be powered responsibly.

ct.

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Peter Kyle, the Secretary for Science, Innovation and Technology, stated: “From the shipyards of the Clyde to developments in steam engine technology, Scottish trailblazers were central to the industrial revolution.

“AI is this generation’s next great industrial leap, so who better to help drive that change than a nation with innovation hardwired in its DNA. We’ve set out an ambitious plan to cement our position as a global leader in AI, with Scotland set to play a key role – unlocking fresh investment and new opportunities. That’s how we’re putting our Plan for Change into action.

“This is a landmark moment and will place Scotland at the forefront of the UK’s technological revolution.

“The up to £750 million investment in Edinburgh’s new supercomputer also places Scotland at the cutting edge of computing power globally.

“This will see Scotland playing a leading role in creating breakthroughs that have a global benefit – such as new medicines, health advances, and climate change solutions.”