The University of Edinburgh’s EPCC supercomputing centre has been awarded £8.6m from the UK government and the European Union to establish the UK AI Factory Antenna.
This initiative will concentrate on helping organisations take their first step with AI, increasing literacy in the technology and its application, and demonstrate how it can be used to drive productivity and economic growth.
The AI Factory Antenna is a component of the EU’s AI Factories programme, which combines data, computing, and experience to develop AI for the good of society.
Headquartered at EPCC, the UK Antenna will collaborate with Germany’s HammerHAI AI Factory at the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart to connect UK businesses with European AI resources, promoting creativity and cooperation.
This project is set to add 20 new roles at EPCC in addition to providing services to support UK startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), larger industrial companies, and the public sector.
It will leverage national strengths to speed up the adoption of AI across important areas like healthcare, fintech, energy, creative industries, advanced engineering, and robotics to transform innovation into practical impact.
EPCC was chosen to host the AI Factory Antenna in recognition of its world-class strengths in supercomputing and artificial intelligence, as well as its strong record of collaboration with industry.
The new facility is expected to open early next year, with a £2.5m contribution from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Professor Mark Parsons, EPCC Director and UKAIFA Coordinator at the University of Edinburgh said:
“The UK Factory Antenna will make artificial intelligence more accessible to organisations of all sizes, supporting innovation and economic growth.”
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