UCC NEWS – AI & DATA CENTRES
AI Opportunities Action Plan On 13 January 2025, Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan .
Feryal Clark MP, Minister for AI and Digital Government summarised the government’s AI roadmap, and a full commitment was given to take forward all of the 50 recommendations made by Adviser on AI Opportunities Matthew Clifford CBE.
How many? 13,250 estimated jobs to be created
The aim? A “decade of national renewal”
The gains? Could be an estimated average £47bn to the UK each year over a decade What’s in store? The 3 Pillars: 1 AI Growth Zones in areas across the country that will speed up planning approvals for the rapid build- out of data centres. The first will be in Oxfordshire, home to the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority, complete with a new National Data Library. Additionally, a new supercomputer build to increase compute capacity by twenty-fold by 2030. 2 Boosting adoption across public and private sectors with a new digital centre for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which will scan for new ideas, pilot them in public sector settings, then scale them as far as they can go. The PM has tasked his entire Cabinet to drive AI adoption and growth in their sectors. 3 Keeping ahead with a new team that will be at the forefront of emerging technology and could include guaranteeing firms access to data and energy. A dedicated AI Energy Council
AI Minister Feryal Clark MP (centre) meets with tech industry leaders.
How much? £14bn investment from 3 major tech companies – Vantage, Nscale and Kyndryl. Plus £25bn in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit. Building one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales, plans to invest over £12bn in UK data centres, creating over 11,500 jobs. Subject to planning permission and agreed connection timelines, is expected to support over 10,000 local construction jobs over 10 years, and create over 1,500 data centre operational roles Plans to create a new tech hub with up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next 3 years Announced a $2.5bn investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastruc- ture over the next 3 years. Will build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026
chaired by the Science and Energy Secretaries is to be established.
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