UK-EU AI Collaboration Set to Unlock New Avenues for Innovation and Research
Building on the UK’s recent agreement with the EU, a new initiative aims to boost AI collaboration across Europe. This partnership could accelerate advancements in healthcare, clean energy, and other sectors critical to improving lives in the UK. Starting now, public research organisations can apply to host the UK’s AI Factory Antenna—a hub that would connect British research expertise to Europe's advanced supercomputers.
Access to high-performance computing power is crucial for processing large datasets and complex models, serving as the driving force behind AI progress.
AI Collaboration to Address Challenges in Key Industries
Enhanced AI collaboration will help tackle global challenges such as climate change and disease. It will support the development of advanced AI applications in healthcare and energy, while also promoting economic growth. Expanding international cooperation on computing resources is a key component of the UK Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which outlines steps to accelerate AI adoption across the economy.
This announcement follows the recent UK-EU agreement secured by the Prime Minister, reinforcing a constructive partnership that aims to deliver practical benefits, foster economic growth, and strengthen national interests.
Minister for AI, Feryal Clark, stated: “Supercomputers are the turbo-chargers of discovery. By strengthening our partnership with Europe, we’re giving British innovators the compute power to solve climate and health challenges, grow the economy, and deliver our Plan for Change.”
A Gateway to Europe’s Most Advanced Supercomputers
The call for expressions of interest is open to individual public research organisations or consortia. It will determine the UK’s government-backed candidate to respond to EuroHPC’s funding call, with up to €5 million available.
If selected, the organisation will become the UK’s AI Factory Antenna, serving as a gateway to top-tier European supercomputers. This role involves partnering with an established AI Factory in Europe, a facility that combines EuroHPC’s computing resources with data, training, and software support.
This setup will enable UK researchers, startups, and public institutions to develop larger, more complex AI models. The result will be shorter development cycles, faster innovation, and new high-skilled jobs across the country.
Clark added: “This is about more than faster processing – it’s about putting the UK at the forefront of global AI. With access to some of Europe’s most advanced systems, our researchers and startups will be equipped to lead on breakthroughs and strengthen Britain’s role as a trusted partner in international AI development.”
The UK’s Growing Position in Advanced Tech and AI
This programme builds on the UK’s expanding AI compute infrastructure, which has seen £44 billion invested in data centres since July last year. It forms part of a wider strategy to ensure the UK has the necessary computing resources to remain competitive in AI.
This summer, the government will announce the next AI Growth Zone sites—specialist clusters intended to host AI infrastructure, attract billions in private investment, and create thousands of skilled jobs.
These measures will be supported by the upcoming Compute Strategy, a ten-year plan to increase the nation’s computing capacity twenty-fold, due to be published later this year.
- Public research organisations interested in applying for the AI Factory Antenna can find more details on the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking website.
- For professionals seeking to deepen their AI expertise, a range of practical courses are available at Complete AI Training.
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