Britain aims to become world leader in artificial intelligence
LONDON

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C) speaks with police officers during a visit to the City of London Police headquarters in London on Jan. 9, 2025
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday outline an "action plan" to make the U.K. "the world leader" in artificial intelligence and spark Britain's flagging economy.
His Labour administration said AI would be "unleashed" across the whole of the country, with the "full weight" of its half a million strong civil service getting behind the endeavour.
"Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country," Starmer said in a statement.
"From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people."
The premier said the AI industry "needs a government that is on their side, one that won't sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers."
"In a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.
"Our plan will make Britain the world leader," he insisted.
The government's 50 proposals include creating what it calls "dedicated AI growth zones" designed to speed up planning proposals for data centres and other AI infrastructure.
It also plans to increase server capacity twentyfold by 2030, including by building "a brand new supercomputer with enough AI power to play itself at chess half a million times a second."
The government said the proposals would mean the public sector would spend less time "doing admin."
Starmer's administration added that AI could be worth 47 billion pounds ($57 billion) to the U.K. each year over a decade.
It announced that three tech companies, Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl, had committed to spending 14 billion pounds on AI in the U.K., leading to the creation of more than 13,000 jobs.