The government will set out plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK to drive growth and deliver public services more efficiently.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan announced on Monday will be backed by leading tech companies, which are said to have committed £14bn to various projects, creating 13,250 jobs.
It includes plans for growth zones where development will be focused and technology will be used to help address issues such as potholes.
“I want to make sure that it benefits everyone, from all backgrounds, that it benefits all communities, from all parts of the United Kingdom,” Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC.
Last summer, the government commissioned AI advisor Matt Clifford to create an action plan for artificial intelligence in the UK.
He came back with 50 recommendations and all of them are now being implemented.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said AI will “drive incredible change” in the country and “has the potential to transform the lives of workers”.
“Our plan will make Britain the world leader,” Sir Keir said.
Kyle told the BBC there was no reason why the UK couldn’t create tech companies on the same scale as Google, Amazon and Apple.
“At the moment, we do not have any cutting-edge conceptual companies that are British-owned. “We have DeepMind, which started in Britain but is now American-owned,” he said.
“Now we want to maintain all those ingredients that allow that kind of scale of innovation and investment to exist in Britain.”
DeepMind created technology that allows computers to play video games and board games.
It was founded by three College School London students before being acquired by Google.
Using figures from the International Monetary Fund, the government estimates that fully embracing AI could generate an average value of up to £47bn for the UK each year for a decade.
Tech companies Vantage Information Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl have committed £14bn to build relevant AI infrastructure in the UK.
This comes on top of the £25 billion investment in AI announced at the International Investment Summit.
Vantage Information Facilities is working to build one of Europe’s largest data center campuses in Wales.
Kyndryl will create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years, forming a new technology hub.
Nscale has signed a contract to build an AI data center in Loughton, Essex, by 2026.
The government says “AI Growth Zones” will be established across the UK, with rapid planning proposals to create new infrastructure.
The first of these will be in Culham, Oxfordshire, and more will be announced this summer focusing on deindustrialized areas.
“I want to find areas of the country where there is a current need for jobs of the future, because jobs of the past have already begun to decline, and take advantage of the fact that in those areas there are often very good connections to the network that can supply an excess of energy right now,” Kyle said.
Other parts of the plan include a new National Data Library to securely protect public data and an AI Energy Council led by Kyle and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, which will focus on the energy demands of the technology.
The Conservatives said the government’s plans “will not help the UK become a technological and scientific superpower”.
Accusing them of cutting £1.3bn in funding for “Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer and artificial intelligence research”, shadow scientific secretary Alan Mak said Labor was “delivering analogue government in a digital era.”
“AI has the potential to transform public services, but economic mismanagement and Labour’s uninspiring plan will mean Britain will be left behind,” he added.
But Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “AI is a powerful tool that will help grow our economy, make our public services more efficient and open up new opportunities to help improve living standards.”
