British chip designer ARM’s technology is at the heart of most mobile devices. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s GPUs are increasingly being used for AI computation in servers, desktops, and even things like self-driving vehicles.

However, Nvidia was most interested in ARM’s presence in edge devices—which it estimates to be in the region of 180 billion.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, said:

“ARM is an incredible company and it employs some of the greatest engineering minds in the world. But we believe we can make ARM even more incredible and take it to even higher levels.

We want to propel it — and the UK — to global AI leadership.”

There were concerns Nvidia’s acquisition would lead to job losses, but the company has promised to keep the business in the UK. The company says it’s planning to hire more staff and retain ARM’s iconic brand.

Nvidia is going further in its commitment to the UK by opening a new AI centre in Cambridge, which is home to an increasing number of exciting startups in the field such as FiveAI, Prowler.io, Fetch.ai, and Darktrace.

“We will create an open centre of excellence in the area once home to giants like Isaac Newton and Alan Turing, for whom key NVIDIA technologies are named.

Here, leading scientists, engineers and researchers from the UK and around the world will come to develop their ideas, collaborate and conduct their ground-breaking work in areas like healthcare, life sciences, self-driving cars, and other fields.”

The new centre will have five key features when it opens:

• ARM/Nvidia-based supercomputer – set to be one of the most powerful AI supercomputers in the world.
• Research Fellowships and Partnerships – Nvidia will use the centre to establish new UK-based research partnerships, expanding on successful relationships already established with King’s College and Oxford.
• AI Training – Nvidia will make its AI curriculum available across the UK to help create job opportunities and prepare “the next generation of UK developers for AI leadership”
• Startup Accelerator – With so many of the world’s most exciting AI companies launching in the UK, the Nvidia Inception accelerator will help startups succeed by providing access to the aforementioned supercomputer, connections to researchers from NVIDIA and partners, technical training, and marketing promotion.
• Industry Collaboration – AI is still in its infancy but will impact every industry to some extent. Nvidia says its new research facility will be an open hub for industry collaboration, building on the company’s existing relationships with the likes of GSK, Oxford Nanopore, and other leaders in their fields.

The UK is Europe’s leader in AI and the British government is investing heavily in ensuring it maintains its pole position. Beyond funding, the UK is also aiming to ensure it’s among the best places to run an AI company.

Current EU rules, especially around data, are often seen as limiting the development of European AI companies when compared to elsewhere in the world. While the UK will have to avoid being accused of doing a so-called “bonfire of regulations” post-Brexit, data collection regulations is likely an area which will be relaxed.

In the UK’s historic trade deal signed with Japan last week, several enhancements were made over the blanket EU-Japan deal signed earlier this year. Among the perceived improvements is the “free flow of data” by not enforcing localisation requirements, and that algorithms can remain private.

UK trade secretary Liz Truss said: “The agreement we have negotiated – in record time and in challenging circumstances – goes far beyond the existing EU deal, as it secures new wins for British businesses in our great manufacturing, food and drink, and tech industries.”

Japan and the UK, as two global tech giants, are expected to deepen their collaboration in the coming years—building on the trade deal signed last week.

Shigeki Ishizuka, Chairman of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, said: “We are confident that this mutual relationship will be further strengthened as an ambitious agreement that will contribute to the promotion of cooperation in research and development, the promotion of innovation, and the further expansion of inter-company collaboration.”

Nvidia’s investment shows that it has confidence in the UK’s strong AI foundations continuing to gain momentum in the coming years.

(Photo by A Perry on Unsplash)

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An index published today, compiled by Oxford Insights in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada, places the UK as Europe’s leading nation and just second on the world stage.

Margot Editor, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said:

“I’m delighted the UK government has been recognised as one of the best in the world in readiness for Artificial Intelligence.

AI is already having a positive impact across society – from detecting fraud and diagnosing medical conditions, to helping us discover new music – and we’re working hard to make the most of its vast opportunities while managing and mitigating the potential risks.

With our newly appointed AI Council, we will boost the growth and use of AI in the UK, by using the knowledge of experts from a range of sectors and encourage dialogue between industry, academia and the public sector, to realise the full potential of data-driven technologies to the economy.”

Singapore pipped the UK for number one, although both scored over 9.0 in the index’s rankings. The researchers used 11 input metrics to determine countries’ rankings which assess governance, infrastructure and data, skills and education, and government and public services.

Here are the index’s top 20 countries:

Western European governments make up the bulk of the top 20, with Germany just behind the UK in third place. There’s also Finland (5th), Sweden (6th), France (8th), Denmark (9th), Norway (12th), Netherlands (14th), Italy (15th), Austria (16th), and Switzerland (18th).

Seeing this many European governments, particularly EU nations, will be of surprise to some. Many believe Europe to be behind in AI due to strict regulations around things such as data collection.

One country often considered to be a leader in AI is China, in part a result of its mass data collection. However, China squeezes in the top 20. The researchers note this is due to limited data availability providing lower scores in metrics like infrastructure.

Richard Stirling, CEO at Oxford Insights, comments:

“It was not surprising that Singapore came top of the rankings, but the UK has also performed extremely well, and the government has demonstrated its commitment with initiatives such as the Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal in April 2018.

However, there is global competition in the AI space, and as our research highlights, other countries such as France, Germany and China have also announced significant investments and introduced AI strategies.  

If the UK is to stay ahead in the field, we must continue to support AI research, technologies, and companies with a clear national strategy and investment programme to support continuous innovation.”

Oxford Insights previously listed the UK as number one for AI readiness in a prior index examining 35 OECD countries, but the new index is much broader in scope. The new index analysed 194 countries using a vaster range of source data.

Just yesterday, Chinese technology giant Tencent announced it led a $100m (£78.4m) funding round for promising British AI startup Prowler. Dr Ling Ge, Chief European Representative at Tencent, said: “The UK is a global leader in AI and is increasingly becoming a focus for companies looking to invest in the sector.”

Last week, the UK government announced the names of board members appointed to its AI Council. The AI council features a range of industry talent from representatives of companies using it for their operations, to policymakers aiming to overcome adoption barriers while ensuring safe integration.

Digital Secretary, Jeremy Wright, stated: “Britain is already a leading authority in AI. We are home to some of the world’s finest academic institutions, landing record levels of investment to the sector, and attracting the best global tech talent, but we must not be complacent.”

Given the rate of AI news coming from the UK, it doesn’t seem there’s any danger of complacency.

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The AI, called SAPIENT, was developed in the UK with the aim of using sensors to detect potential unseen dangers to soldiers.

SAPIENT is more efficient than manually scanning live feeds and frees up more soldiers to be used for operational means elsewhere.

Canada and the UK maintain a close security partnership as part of the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ alliance which also includes Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

SAPIENT was tested alongside other high-end military technologies including exoskeleton suits and new surveillance and night vision equipment.

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said:

“This British system can act as autonomous eyes in the urban battlefield. This technology can scan streets for enemy movements so troops can be ready for combat with quicker, more reliable information on attackers hiding around the corner.

Investing millions in advanced technology like this will give us the edge in future battles.”

Trials with Five Eyes partners are due to go on for three weeks and include soldiers from each nation. A similar exercise is due to be conducted in the UK in 2020.

AI being used for military purposes is a controversial subject. Some believe it should have no role, while others feel it must be developed to keep pace with other nations such as Russia and China who are both investing heavily.

“Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”

Earlier this year, Google was forced to drop its contract with the Pentagon to develop AI technology for drones following backlash and resignations from employees. Many other Silicon Valley giants followed in committing not to undertake military work.

Other companies, however, were more than happy to pick up the lucrative contracts.

What are your thoughts on SAPIENT and military AI?

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As the UK prepares to depart the EU, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is boosting funding of industries where the UK is already emerging a leader to help solidify its position on the world stage.

£75 million will be set aside for artificial intelligence to build on the existing success stories from the likes of Cambridge-based DeepMind — which was acquired by Google for £400 million back in 2014. Up to £20 million will support companies developing AI services while £45 million will support increasing the number of PhD students studying AI each year.

Part of the reason for the lack of electric vehicle adoption in many European countries is the lack of supporting infrastructure. £400 million will be invested in charging points along with a further £100 million to boost purchases of clean cars.

This infrastructure will also help with the deployment of driverless cars — but the biggest hurdle remains setting insurance and regulatory policies. Speaking to our sister publication IoT News back in January, Jeremy Dalton, CTO of TravelSpirit, noted the Department for Transport’s work to create an environment for autonomous vehicles to be developed with little hindrance.

5G will enable greater connectivity and open up new possibilities for the IoT. Driverless cars and their connected features will likely require this next-generation mobile technology for its greatly reduced latency and increased reliability. A further £35 million will be made available to ensure rail passengers have reliable and “lightning-speed” connections during journeys. Trials will begin on the Trans-Pennine route which connects Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool.

Other related announcements in the budget includes £76 million to boost digital and construction skills, £9 million to fund an advisory board for safe and ethical innovation, and £100 million to train an additional 8,000 qualified computer science teachers (supported by a new National Centre for Computing.)

The government funding is alongside increasing private investment in AI and IoT. According to Deloitte’s new Digital Disruption Index, 85 percent of senior executives plan to invest in artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things by 2020. More than half of the organisations surveyed expect to invest over £10 million in digital technologies such as AI, cloud, robotics, analytics, blockchain, the IoT, and virtual and augmented reality.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Monday a 1.7 billion pound fund to help regenerate cities and a 2.3 billion pound boost to research and development spending, due in 2021/22.

“This is a new long-term approach to shaping a stronger and fairer economy for decades to come,” May said in a Times newspaper article.

Whether it’s private or public investment, there’s little debate over the importance of giving these industries all the financial support they need to grow and thrive.

Are you impressed with the funding in the budget of future industries? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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