The report comes from this week’s CNBC UK Exchange Newsletter. Every Wednesday, Ian King brings you expert insights on the most important business stories in the UK, as well as the main characters who shape the news. The newsletter will also highlight other key developments you don’t want to miss and preview the basic events that will cause the wave. Like what you saw? You can subscribe here.
She isn’t the only one to deny the climb in winter fuel allowances for millions of pensioners Turn around UK principal Rachel Reeves announced this month.
The political side is less important, but even more important to the UK’s long-term growth potential, which was announced on June 10 that the government will provide £750 million ($1 billion) of funds for a new Exascale supercomputer, capable of operating at the University of Edinburgh for $5 billion ($1 billion) per second.
The news reverses a previous decision, which came days after the Labor government was elected last July, aiming to raise about £800 million in funding for a project announced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government in 2023. Edinburgh has spent £30 million to support infrastructure and support a member of the UK, which was twice caused by Japan, and twice caused by computers, and twice caused by computers, and twice caused by computers, and twice caused by computers, and twice caused by computers, and twice caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers, and once caused by computers Their own, which will put Britain behind its peers.
The timing of turning around is no coincidence.
Just two days later, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in honor of the start of London Tech Week Share a platform with Jensen HuangNVIDIA founders and CEOs, all of whom are eager to talk about the power of artificial intelligence to change lives.
However, during the meeting, Huang had a clear warning to the UK
He said: “The UK is one of the richest AI communities anywhere on the planet. The deepest thinkers, the best universities in Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College, amazing startups like Deepmind, Wayve, Synthesia, an incredible research community and more.”
“It’s just one thing missing. It’s the world’s largest AI ecosystem without its own infrastructure.”
Cynical people would say Huang’s message – chipmakers urge more investment in infrastructure that require chips – is no different from stockbrokers urging customers to buy stocks.
But it is unthinkable that the government will not realize this in advance. And the funds for the Edinburgh Supercomputer show the information signed with Starmer and Reeves.
However, the UK technology sector faces other challenges. One is that UK AI startups lag behind their U.S. and Chinese counterparts in fundraising by venture capitalists. This may be a long-term weakness, the same as the shortage of sovereign AI computing infrastructure.
But, more worrying, Britain may lose momentum in quantum computing, a revolutionary way to process information faster than classical computing.
Just on the A40 Trunk Road, Starmer is on stage with Huang, the quantum hardware startup Oxford Ionology is a derivative of Oxford University. Agree to the $1.1 billion acquisition of Maryland-based IONQ.
The sale attracted attention, first asking the question when Google bought AI startup DeepMind in 2014, the UK was nothing more than a technology “incubator” that the company was born before the company expanded elsewhere.
As Tina Stowell, former chairman of the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, said: “I’m really sorry that it lost Britain as a British business, and even under the new ownership it continues to operate here.”
“What we’re seeing this week is another example of a worrying trend,” she added.
There are concerns that other companies in the field may follow suit.
“This (takeover) is a reflection of the top-notch quality of UK quantum R&D, built on decades of public foundation, but also an example that will be watched closely by other quantum companies seeking capital and opportunities that can be hard to find in the UK,” Ashley Montanaro, co-founder and CEO of the quantum software company Phasecraft, wrote in an article for the British tech industry publication UKTN.
“American Quantum already has more public funding, more scholarships, more state and federal grants and contracts than the UK, and more support for scale-up and deployment.”
He added: “Even if President (Donald) Trump’s recent push to colleges, private capital ends up following public funding, several of our peers have joined us in our open labs overseas to get that support, knowledge and capital.”
He noted that the implementation of the UK’s national quantum strategy announced two years ago was delayed, and he noted that until the earliest fall, there would be no new government funding for quantum computing projects – while the United States is adding federal quantum funding and other countries, including Canada and Finland, to the investment in the field.
Montanaro continued: “Once talent, capital and motivation go elsewhere, they rarely come back.”
It is heart-warming that the British government’s passion for new rediscovery of supercomputers will help power the AI revolution. But AI is only part of the UK’s technology ecosystem, and the worry is that in fields like quantum computing, it is actually a danger of lagging behind.
The other side
Meanwhile, while Starmer and his ministers now seem to see AI as an unparalleled force, others may disagree.
BT CEO Alison Kirkby told the Financial Times’ plans in a rare interview this week Cut over 40,000 jobs And the £3 billion fee at the end of the decade “does not reflect the full potential of AI”.
“Depending on what we learn from AI… By the end of the decade, BT may have a smaller chance,” she told the paper.
Most of the work expected to be carried out under existing plans is the work of specially employed engineers to build BT’s fiber optic network, which once completed, becomes redundant.
In this case, Kirkby refers to BT’s call centers that employ thousands of employees in areas such as Plymouth, Greenock and North Tyneside, as well as the company’s HR capabilities.
Starmer and his colleagues may need to convince the public – especially the traditional supporters of the party in unions – that AI is the power of goodness, not just cost cuts.
– Ian King
