Labour accused of being ‘anti-tech’ after dropping £800million supercomputer exascale

An AI Action Plan by the new Labour government is expected to show a £1.3billion supercomputer investment package has been dropped.

The “exascale” supercomputer was billed as “formidable” by the Tory government, which had promised £800million for Edinburgh University to build it.

But since Labour took office on July 5th, the DSIT has reportedly put both the supercomputer and a related £500m AI investment fund on ice.

The latter was a showpiece of chancellor Jeremy Hunt at Autumn Budget 2023 and the former, the exascale, was tabled in October 2023.

'AI skills of the future'

Hunt’s Spring Budget 2024 subsequently announced a £7.4million upskilling fund pilot to help small to medium-sized enterprises develop “AI skills of the future.”

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said this month that such AI training for SME “employees” will go ahead.

Three days later, on July 26th, the department announced an AI Opportunities Plan which entrepreneur Matt Clifford will soon outline.

'Difficult spending decisions'

But without citing sources, the BBC has reported that the £800m exascale and the £500m investment fund (‘AI Research Resource’) won’t go ahead.

A DSIT spokesperson was quoted however, saying that the new “government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions.”

The implied shelving of the £1.3bn AI investment is awkward for Edinburgh University, as a new wing to house exascale has already been built -- at a cost of £31million.

It also deals a blow to Labour; its support for the tech industry, and it seems to raise questions about the new chancellor’s IT credentials too.

'Labour can't be anti-tech'

Barney Hussey-Yeo, the boss of an artificial intelligence start-up social media messaged Rachel Reeves directly:

“The UK needs to lead in AI if we’re going to get back to growth. Labour can’t be anti-tech,” the CEO of Cleo told Reeves online.

An investor in tech firms, Chris van der Kuyl, also took to ‘X’ about the future of exascale and Research Resource now being unclear.

“This is…[an example of] how to consign the UK to the ‘tech slow lane,’” the tech investor wrote.

'Binned'

Mark Welch, an IT contractor specialising in BAU experience, says the shelving of the £1.3bn AI investment is the new Labour government’s first “epic fail”.

“So much for promoting the UK as [a] tech superpower,” he says.

“Expect the slogan ‘the UK is the best place to start a business in the world’…[to] be binned [too, if we’re already relegating AI like this].”

In March 2023, the Conservatives said that exascale, which was set to perform one billion billion calculations each second, would help “solve massive societal issues, such as energy sustainability and support thousands of businesses.”

'Space data capital'

Speaking on Wednesday, DSIT said that the UK technology sector was “vital for the economy” and “public services like the NHS.”

The department was reflecting on representatives from Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Nvidia meeting with chancellor Reeves, and science secretary Peter Kyle who this month hailed Edinburgh as the “space data capital.”

Photographed for the media, the meeting was convened to “discuss continuing to use the power of technology and AI to improve lives across the UK.”

'Invite tech companies who are not Big Tech'

But the event didn’t universally impress.

One user of ‘X,’ Neil Roberts, a health tech company boss said, “Where was the SME representation?”

Another agreed, posting: “And does the government intend to invite technology companies who are not ‘Big Tech?’”

The questions coincide with a pharmaceutical firm saying it will stop using Microsoft's Copilot AI tool, after the firm’s CIO complained of high cost and low value.