OpenAI and UK sign new AI agreement to boost security, infrastructure
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OpenAI will share technical information with the UK AI Security Institute to deepen the British government’s knowledge of AI capabilities and security risks.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
- UK and OpenAI partner to boost AI security research and explore UK AI infrastructure investment, including data centres, according to the government.
- The UK plans to invest £1 billion in AI computing, aiming for a 20-fold increase in public compute capacity in five years, competing with the US, China, and India.
- OpenAI may expand its London office and explore AI applications in sectors like justice, defence, and education, as praised by Sam Altman for the UK's "AI Opportunities Action Plan".
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LONDON – Britain and ChatGPT maker OpenAI have signed a new strategic partnership to deepen collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI) security research and explore investing in British AI infrastructure, such as data centres, the government said on July 21.
“AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country – whether that’s in fixing the NHS (National Health Service), breaking down barriers to opportunity or driving economic growth,” Secretary of State for Technology Peter Kyle said in a statement.
“This can’t be achieved without companies like OpenAI, who are driving this revolution forward internationally. This partnership will see more of their work taking place in the UK.”
The government has set out plans to invest £1 billion (S$1.7 billion) in computing infrastructure for AI development, hoping to increase public compute capacity twentyfold over the next five years.
The US, China and India are emerging as front runners in the race to develop AI, putting pressure on Europe to catch up.
The partnership with OpenAI, whose tie-up with Microsoft once drew the scrutiny of Britain’s competition regulator, will see the company possibly increase the size of its London office and explore where it can deploy AI in areas such as justice, defence, security and education technology.
In the same statement, OpenAI head Sam Altman praised the government for being the first to recognise the technology’s potential through its “AI Opportunities Action Plan” – an initiative by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to turn Britain into an AI superpower.
The Labour government, which has struggled to increase economic growth meaningfully in its first year in power and has since fallen behind in polls, has said that the technology could increase productivity by 1.5 per cent a year, worth an extra £47 billion annually over a decade. REUTERS
