The UK Government’s Minister for AI has affirmed a commitment to create an AI Growth Scotland in Scotland and pledged that an announcement on a national scheme is due to come ‘very soon’.
Kanishka Narayan, minister of state in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, who has responsibility for AI and online safety, praised Scotland’s long track record in AI, and a new investment zone will reflect its ‘immense strengths’.
Narayan was on a flying visit yesterday to Edinburgh, where he met with local tech firms in an event hosted by tech trade body ScotlandIS.
“We are going to get a Scottish AI growth zone,” he said. “There is no doubt about that as a commitment, and it’s a deep ambition. We have policy changes that we made just two weeks ago, which mean that actually investing in a Scottish AI growth zone is even more attractive for investors.
“And so that is all part of the work that we’re doing to make sure that, yes, we get to a Scottish AI growth zone soon, but that more than anything, we get to the biggest Scottish AI growth zone in terms of jobs and opportunities for kids growing up in Scotland, and I hope to make that announcement very soon.”
Narayan said: “I’m really excited that Edinburgh is the first stop straight after the Budget, because I wanted to get to Edinburgh because Scotland has been the home of British AI for six decades. And I know that Scotland is going to be the future for British AI over the decades to come, and that’s why we have invested £750 million in the supercomputer [in Edinburgh], the first national supercomputing centre here, through the EPCC [Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre].”
The government has also drafted recent policy changes which could mean data centres are considered ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’ (NSIPs), with faster planning decisions and energy incentives at their heart.
That could help unlock investment in AI Growth Zones across the UK, including Scotland.
“And so we have a service which will work with investors to help them through that process,” said Narayan. “But very crucially, we have announced that in areas where investors are investing in data centres and compute create energy system savings, and that those savings can be shared back, both with consumers and with investors. And so investing in a Scottish AI growth zone is even more attractive now economically.”
There are no formal details as to where the first AI Growth Zone in Scotland might be located, but several bids are under consideration, including the redevelopment of the former steelworks in Ravenscraig, and a former coal store in Cockenzie, East Lothian.
And Scotland’s naturally cool climate also adds to the potential for data centre development.
Narayan added: “We want the future of AI to be naturally cool, and I think is going to be part of that. Scotland has immense strengths in AI. It has immense strengths in energy generation, and it has some of the natural environment that is critical for the future of AI as well.”
He added: “But the thing that we’re really hoping for is that we don’t just have great data centre capacity here, but the kids in Scotland can use that data and the compute to create fantastic businesses, organisations, public services, and that’s why we’re making sure that the site that we choose is a site that is delivering both the largest outcome for AI, but fundamentally the deepest sense of progress for kids growing up in Scotland.”
Narayan was on a whistlestop tour of the UK yesterday, visiting first Edinburgh, then Newcastle and Sheffield before heading to Birmingham and finally Belfast. He was greeted at the the University of Edinburgh’s Bayes Centre by Sir Peter Matheson, the university’s principal and vice-chancellor.
He then toured the facility meeting local businesses including CAVU Aerospace, which manufactures onboard computers for NASA’s Artemis programme, and Lupovis, an innovative cybersecurity firm which specialises in creating digital ‘decoys’ to thwart hackers.
Professor Mark Parsons, who leads the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC), also met the minister.
Professor Parsons showcased the latest Cerebras AI chips – the largest AI computer chip ever built – and made the case for expanding access to the university’s supercomputing and AI facilities to support British industries of the future.
Professor Parsons said: “In the past, I’ve only been allowed to make 1 or 2% of the system of the national HPC [High Performance Computing] system available to industry, and I’d really like to see that 20% in the new system, because these big public investments should be accessible by industry.”
Professor Parsons said the previous policy had been that investments into supercomputing hubs – such as the one he runs at a facility in Easter Bush – had prioritised access to the scientific and research community.
The Cerebras chip – of which the university has four – is also pushing new boundaries in ‘exploring AI at scale’, said Professor Parsons.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that Wales will be the host for two AI Growth Zones – creating more than 8,000 jobs. Professor Parsons said he is working to support bids in Scotland.
He said: “I think one of Scotland’s problems is actually that we’ve got several really compelling opportunities for AI growth zones.
“We’ve got the power, we’ve got the space, we’ve got the cooling, the cool climate. I think the minister’s department’s already announced that Scotland will at least have one AI growth zone, and I think we’re just gradually inching towards which one that will be, but hopefully it’ll be more than one in the end.”
He added: “Because I think compared to building data centres in the south of England, where it’s much hotter, and is much more difficult, with regards to power, it makes vast sense to be building these environments in Scotland.
“We have lots of cheap green electricity, and a much cooler climate. And this worry that people have had that Scotland’s a long way from London is just nonsense. You know, fibre optics are fast, speed of light connections, so it’s nothing to worry about.”
