UK and Canada sign joint agreement on AI compute infrastructure
The agreements, which commit the nations to explore how they can support researchers and industry with access to computing capacity, follow a state visit to Canada by Michelle Donelan, the science and technology secretary of state.
Donelan signed the memorandum of understanding on compute alongside François-Phillippe Champagne, Canada’s minister for innovation, science, and industry.
“The UK’s unique partnership with Canada across science, innovation, and technology is built on a shared desire to be an active force for good on the global stage,” said Donelan.
“My visit this week and the foundations we have laid will ensure we can continue to lead the way in harnessing the opportunities of new innovations across science and technology for decades to come.”
The agreements build on the existing collaboration on AI regulation and research established during the AI Safety Summit, in which Canada was one of 28 nations to sign the Bletchley Declaration.
The government has also committed more than £1bn to funding compute infrastructure and has welcomed recent investments from Google and Deutsche Bank to build new data centres in the UK.
“Today’s memoranda of understanding on scientific research, innovation, and AI compute will drive positive impacts across all fields of research and innovation, help businesses accelerate commercialization, and link our leading researchers together,” added Champagne.
“These agreements will strengthen our AI companies, enable our researchers, and encourage sharing research excellence with the Global South to build international capacity and address worldwide challenges.”
Canadian AI startup Cohere, a competitor to ChatGPT creator OpenAI, recently entered talks to raise around $1 billion from investors.
source: www.uktech.news
