Earlier this month, the government scrapped £1.3bn of funding for AI and technology projects, including the £800m ‘exascale’ supercomputer that the previous administration said would accelerate AI, medicine and low-carbon energy innovation.
The news is brighter for private investment. UK AI startups have raised $2.1bn in investment so far in 2024, which is almost as much as was raised in the whole of 2023.
Investment is on track to reach an all-time high by the end of the year, with AI now accounting for 22% of the UK’s innovation ecosystem value – up from 12% in 2019.
However, concerns about whether hefty AI investments from the likes of Microsoft and Google will pay off dramatically hit the share prices of US tech giants earlier this month….
