The UK government has scrapped £1.3 billion in funding aimed at supporting technology and AI-related projects across the country.
The funding, pledged by the previous Conservative government, will be scrapped as part of a cost-cutting scheme by the new government, officials from the Department for Science Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) told ITPro.
First reported by BBC News, the funding cuts will primarily impact pledges to support the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh.
£500 million in additional funding for the AI Research Resource scheme, which provides funding to support computing power used in AI development, has also been withdrawn.
The AIRR project was first announced by former tech secretary Michelle Donelan in November 2023.
A spokesperson for DSIT confirmed the funding cuts in a statement given to ITPro, although they also stated the government remains “absolutely committed” to supporting technology investments across the country.
“The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments,” the spokesperson said. “This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.”
Around £300 million in funding has already been committed to the AI Research Resource, officials said, and funding the pledges will continue “as planned”.
The additional £500 million in funding announced for the scheme this year will “no longer be taken forward”.
DSIT said that all future investment in compute infrastructure will be considered as part of the newly-announced AI Opportunities Action Plan. The scheme, set to be led by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, was announced in late July.
As part of the initiative, the government will identify ways in which AI can drive economic growth and deliver positive outcomes for the broader UK economy.
Questions do remain over the future of the University of Edinburgh’s exascale computing plans. The project was first unveiled in October 2023 and development of the site on which the supercomputer will be housed has already begun.
According to BBC reports, the university has already spent £31 million on the project so far.
ITPro has approached the University of Edinburgh for comment, but it did not immediately respond.
