The UK government has announced new artificial intelligence funding, with £36 million being allocated to increase the power of University of Cambridge’s supercomputing capacity sixfold.
This funding boost will back a new National Computational Resource, providing extra computing capacity to the supercomputer facilities at the University of Cambridge.
The university is already home to the DAWN supercomputer, which through the AI Research Resource programme, is made available for free to scientists and researchers.
It has been used across more than 350 projects, helping to develop AI tools for medical research and to better model climate change and environment changes.
As part of its further investment in compute power at Cambridge, the facility will get access to AMD MI355X AI processing chips, supplied and integrated by Dell Technologies.
The government said this additional AI compute will be active as early as Spring 2026 and will lead to everyday benefits such as faster tools to help spot diseases, smarter technology to improve public services, and better climate modelling to help regions prepare for extreme weather.
In total, the government has committed over £2 billion build out the UK’s compute infrastructure, including over £1 billion to expand the AI Research Resource programme by at least twentyfold by 2030.
“The UK is home to world-class AI talent, but too often our ambitious researchers and most promising start-ups have been held back by a lack of access to the computing power they need,” said Minister for AI Kanishka Narayan.
“This investment changes that – giving British innovators the tools to compete with the biggest players and develop AI that improves lives, from spotting diseases earlier to helping communities prepare for extreme weather, right across the country.”
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