University College London (UCL) has officially opened a new national Artificial Intelligence research lab that will develop open-source technologies and explore new approaches designed to reduce reliance on large technology providers and extensive data centre infrastructure.
University College London (UCL) has officially opened a new £30 million national Artificial Intelligence research lab focused on developing the next generation of open-source AI technologies.
The Science of Fundamental AI Research (SOFAIR) Lab is being led by UCL in partnership with the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh.
The initiative forms part of a £60 million programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to establish two national laboratories exploring fundamental approaches to AI.
Professor David Barber from UCL Computer Science will lead SOFAIR, which aims to develop AI technologies based in the UK while reducing dependence on large technology providers and remote data centre infrastructure.
Professor Barber said: “We’re very thankful and grateful to UKRI and EPSRC. The £30 million investment over the next six years is a massive opportunity for us to really do fantastic, deep, fundamental research in AI and come up with new paradigms that can move the needle of AI forward.”
Researchers from computer science, mathematics, statistics and neuroscience will work together to investigate new AI architectures, including technologies capable of running on more widely available hardware.
The approach is intended to make advanced AI more accessible to universities, researchers and other organisations by reducing reliance on the small number of architectures and extensive computing infrastructure that underpin many current AI systems.
Professor Geraint Rees, UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), said: “Today is an important step for the UK’s AI ecosystem as a whole. Much of the public
conversation around AI is focused on products, adoption and economic impact. But SOFAIR reminds us that progress also depends on fundamental research, understanding how those systems work, where their limits lie, and what sort of scientific ideas are going to drive the next generation of advances in sovereign AI.”
A second national facility, the British Open-ended Learning and Discovery (BOLD) Lab, will be led by the University of Oxford, with UCL and Imperial College London also involved.
The two labs will work with academia, industry and the public sector and support the commercialisation of research through entrepreneurship and spinouts.
