In its efforts to challenge OpenAI to claim a global AI leading spot, the United Kingdom (UK) is working on building a model that will increase national computing technologies. This follows the plans of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration to lead the world of artificial intelligence.
Alongside various developments, the UK government is working on expanding data centre capacity across the U.K. to boost developers of powerful AI models.
Also in its plan to overtake OpenAI, Starmer will visit Bristol, England, on Monday to announce the pledge following previous moves by British tech investor Matt Clifford to establish an “AI Opportunities Action Plan.”
Last year, the UK cancelled £1.3 billion of taxpayer-funded spending commitments towards two significant computing initiatives in order to prioritize other fiscal plans. The two projects – an AI Research Resource and a next-generation “exascale” supercomputer – were made under Rishi Sunak, Starmer’s predecessor.

The UK has now set a target of increasing “sovereign,” or public sector, compute capacity in the U.K. by twentyfold by 2030. It will also begin opening full access to AI Research Resources which promotes the country’s computing systems.
The term Sovereign AI has become a new trend that relates to the idea that technologies critical to economic growth and national security should be built and developed in the countries people are adopting them.
Additionally, the Britain government is also setting up various AI “growth zones,” where rules on planning permission will be relaxed in certain places to allow for the creation of new data centres.
The AI developing project is coming at a time when tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are injecting funds into small modular reactors (SMR) to provide nuclear energy for the data centres that power their AI systems.
Additional UK plans and reactions
As part of its plans to enforce a major initiative responsible for the foundational AI models that power today’s generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the UK government is bent on creating an indigenous AI.
Another plan is to use the AI growth zones and a newly established National Data Library to connect universities to enhance the country’s ability to create “sovereign” AI models that aren’t reliant on Silicon Valley.
Likewise, an “AI Energy Council” will also be formed, composed of industry leaders from both energy and AI, to explore the role of renewable and low-carbon sources of energy, like nuclear.


Amidst the project, a number of U.K. capitalists and founders have called for the country’s pension funds to allocate a greater portion of their portfolios towards growth-focused startups.
“In the U.K., there’s $7 trillion in this pocket. Imagine if you take just 5% of that and allocate it to innovation — you solve the problem,” Magnus Grimeland, CEO and founder of venture capital firm Antler, told CNBC in an interview last year.
Similarly, tech leader and Salesforce’s U.K. boss, Zahra Bahrololoumi, has praised the government’s AI action plan. She said the plan is a “forward-thinking strategy,” noting that she’s encouraged by the government’s “bold vision for AI and emphasis on transparency, safety and collaboration.”
Chintan Patel, Cisco’s chief technology officer in the U.K., said he’s encouraged by the action plan and looking forward to seeing the country as a UK superpower. “Having a clearly defined roadmap is critical for the UK to achieve its ambition to become an AI superpower and a leading destination for AI investment,” he said.
The UK’s lofty AI plans face several challenges
Meanwhile, the UK. faces serious challenges in its bid to create an effective OpenAI alternative.
Firstly, several entrepreneurs in the country have raised concerns about funding challenges that make it difficult for startups in the country to raise the kind of cash available to AI success stories.
Secondly, formal regulations for AI are yet to be formed. Though Starmer’s government has previously said it plans to draw up legislation for AI. Last month, the government announced a consultation on measures to regulate the use of copyrighted content to train AI models.


In its own improvement plan, Open AI recently introduced an advanced-priced tier for its chatbot ChatGPT featuring unlimited access to its most powerful artificial intelligence designs which cost $200 (N150,000) a month.
The tech giant previously released a preview of the new model in September where the company said it has been enhanced to solve competitive math and code problems in a faster and better way.
Similar Read: Open AI launches ChatGPT pro that performs human-like reasoning, to cost $200 a month.