Supercomputer in doubt after 'unfunded commitments' to tech and AI are shelved

The Labour government has shelved £1.3bn of funding promised by the Conservatives for technology and artificial intelligence, putting the future of Britain's first next-generation supercomputer in doubt.

- Julia Kollewe, Dan Milmo

The government says these were "unfunded commitments". The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the funding had been promised by the previous government but had not been allocated in its spending plans.

The projects, announced last year, include £800m for the creation of an exascale (able to perform 1 billion billion calculations a second) supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and £500m for the AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for Al.

A DSIT spokesperson said: "We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK.

"The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth."