A new UK AI research lab will be created to unlock breakthroughs which could transform healthcare, transport, science and everyday technology.

In a tiny space of time AI has gone from being the staple of science fiction, to an everyday tool used in schools, hospitals and workplaces worldwide. That includes using it to screen patients for cancer and design better batteries.

Backed by £40 million in UK government funding, the lab will work on high-risk scientific projects to try and solve some of AI’s longstanding problems, such as hallucinations, unreliable memory and unpredictable reasoning,  and to develop new approaches that could make future AI systems far more accurate, transparent and trustworthy, could make it possible for AI to do even more.

By addressing these challenges head on, the lab will try to lay the foundations for AI that supports earlier medical diagnoses, more resilient infrastructure, faster scientific discovery and better day to day tools for people and public services. The work will rethink how AI tools are built, rather than simply scaling up existing systems and training them on more data, opening the door to new capabilities that don’t exist yet.

“AI is already doing things we could never have imagined just a few years ago, like helping to diagnose cancer. It can and will do even more – but if we want this technology to be a force for good, we need to make sure the next big AI breakthroughs are made in Britain,” AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said.

“This is a long-term investment in the brilliant minds who will keep the UK in the AI fast lane. If we are the ones breaking new ground on what AI can do, we can make sure our values are baked in from the outset. This is a critical part of our mission to make AI work for everyone.”

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Located in the UK, up to £40 million will be made available over 6 years for the Fundamental AI Research Lab, plus substantial in-kind access to AI Research Resource compute capacity worth tens of millions of pounds. This funding call is open for applications now with the UK government calling on the country’s AI experts to bring their boldest and most ambitious proposals forward.

Applications will be assessed by a peer review panel Chaired by Raia Hadsell, who is a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) AI ambassador supporting government to unlock the transformational benefits of AI for society. Raia has worked for Google DeepMind since 2014 and currently leads the company’s frontier AI efforts as a Vice President of Research.