- The British Government accepts the bid for ‘AI -Growth Zones’
- These will focus on local authorities with access to energy sources
- Growth zones are part of the government’s AI action plan
The British government increases its “plan for change” with the launch of ‘AI growth zones’, designed to focus on de-industrialized areas of the United Kingdom ready for re-development.
The government calls on local and regional authorities to make their bids – especially those with ‘existing access to power, or which would be suitable for establishing greater energy infrastructure’, such as those close to nuclear reactors, sun stations and wind farms or battery storage.
The launch follows the government’s master plan to ‘loosen AI’ in the British economy by investing strongly in data centers and by ‘unlocking’ public data to give researchers access to the training of AI models.
AI Superpower
Within the AI action plan, growth zones are aiming to speed up the construction of AI infrastructure and provide better access to Energinet. This despite the significant load this would set the national network, as data center energy consumption is set to spike ‘six times’ in a decade.
The government aims to market Britain as an AI ‘world leader’ and attract technical investments – and claims to already bring in ‘millions per hour’ in financing the private sector.
By attracting investments and building connected infrastructure, ‘growth zones’ hope to exploit Britain’s financial potential and create ‘thousands’ of local jobs, ‘revitalizing’ communities.
“These new AI growth zones will provide countless opportunities to release new jobs, fresh investments and ensure that every corner of the country has a real share in our AI-run future,” said State Secretary for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle.
“We leave no stones that have not turned into how we can exploit expertise from all over the UK to provide new opportunities, fresh growth, better public services and cement our position as AI pioneer.”
