https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/15/uk-to-invest-900m-in-supercomputer-in-bid-to-build-own-britgpt [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Print subscriptions Sign in Search jobs Search US edition[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle ShowMoreShow More * [ ]News + View all News + US news + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Fight to vote * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * [ ]US edition + UK edition + Australia edition + International edition + Europe edition * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian Licensing + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Wordiply + Corrections * + Facebook + Twitter * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian Licensing * US * World * Environment * Soccer * US Politics * Business * Tech * Science * Newsletters * Fight to vote Cerebras System's new AI supercomputer Andromeda at a data centre in Santa Clara, California, US, in October 2022. [ ] Cerebras System's new AI supercomputer Andromeda at a data centre in Santa Clara, California, US, in October 2022. Photograph: Rebecca Lewington/CEREBRAS SYSTEMS/Reuters Cerebras System's new AI supercomputer Andromeda at a data centre in Santa Clara, California, US, in October 2022. Photograph: Rebecca Lewington/CEREBRAS SYSTEMS/Reuters Artificial intelligence (AI) UK to invest PS900m in supercomputer in bid to build own 'BritGPT' Treasury announces plans for exascale computer so as not to risk losing out to China Dan Milmo and Alex Hern Wed 15 Mar 2023 14.00 EDTLast modified on Wed 15 Mar 2023 15.00 EDT * * * The UK government is to invest PS900m in a cutting-edge supercomputer as part of an artificial intelligence strategy that includes ensuring the country can build its own "BritGPT". The treasury outlined plans to spend around PS900m on building an exascale computer, which would be several times more powerful than the UK's biggest computers, and establishing a new AI research body. An exascale computer can be used for training complex AI models, but also have other uses across science, industry and defence, including modelling weather forecasts and climate projections. The Treasury said the PS900m investment will "allow researchers to better understand climate change, power the discovery of new drugs and maximise our potential in AI.". An exascale computer is one that can carry out more than one billion billion simple calculations a second, a metric known as an "exaflops". Only one such machine is known to exist, Frontier, which is housed at America's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and used for scientific research - although supercomputers have such important military applications that it may be the case that others already exist but are not acknowledged by their owners. Frontier, which cost about PS500m to produce and came online in 2022, is more than twice as powerful as the next fastest machine. The government acknowledged the recent breakthroughs in large language models, the technology behind chatbots such as OpenAI's chatGPT - a sensation since its launch last year - and Google's Bard, which has yet to be released to the public. It said it would establish a taskforce "to advance UK sovereign capability in foundation models, including large language models.". Last month, MPs were told the UK needed to invest in large language models or it risked losing out to states such as China and major corporations. "We think there's a risk that we in the UK, lose out to the large tech companies, and possibly China, and get left behind ... in areas of cybersecurity, of healthcare, and so on. It is a massive arms race that has been around for some time, but the heat has certainly been turned up most recently," said Adrian Joseph, BT's chief data and artificial intelligence officer, speaking to the Commons science and technology committee. "Because AI needs computing horsepower, I today commit around PS900m of funding ... for an exascale supercomputer," said the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. The Treasury said it would award a PS1m prize every year for the next 10 years to the most groundbreaking AI research. The award will be called the Manchester Prize, in memory of the so-called Manchester Baby, a forerunner of the modern computer built at the University of Manchester in 1948. The government will also invest PS2.5bn over the next decade in quantum technologies. Quantum computing is based on quantum physics - which looks at how the subatomic particles that make up the universe work - and quantum computers are capable of computing their way through vast numbers of different outcomes. 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