The United Kingdom announces that it will devote £100 million to a Foundation Model Taskforce.
Summary
On April 24, 2023, the United Kingdom announced that it would devote £100 million to a Foundation Model Taskforce charged with developing “safe and reliable” foundation AI models meant to rival AI technologies like ChatGPT. The U.K. government has stated that the models will “build the UK’s ‘sovereign’ national capabilities” in AI and be used “across the economy”, ensuring the U.K.’s place as a “science and technology superpower by 2030”. In particular, the announcement cites areas like health care and education as sectors that could be “transform[ed]” by the Taskforce’s AI, predicting that the wide adoption of AI could “raise global GDP by 7 percent over a decade, making its adoption a vital opportunity to grow the UK economy”. The Taskforce is expected to launch pilots targeting public services within the next six months.
