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yesterday

UK Restores £750 Million Funding for Edinburgh Exascale Supercomputer

The package also allocates £1 billion over five years to boost public AI computing capacity twentyfold to reinforce Britain’s bid for top-three global AI status.

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The UK's new national supercomputer will be hosted by the University at its Advanced Computing Facility.
The Prometheus supercomputer in Poland is one of the fastest in the world
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Overview

  • Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed a £750 million investment for an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh after Labour scrapped a previous £800 million plan in August 2024.
  • The new exascale machine, expected online by early 2027, will deliver fifty times the computing power of the current Archer2 system.
  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s broader strategy includes a separate £1 billion commitment over five years to expand public AI computing resources twentyfold.
  • Officials say the enhanced infrastructure will accelerate breakthroughs in AI research, drug development, climate modelling and nuclear fusion.
  • The government projects that expanded AI capabilities could contribute up to £47 billion annually to the UK economy and bolster its global research standing.