With hopes of improving collaboration with Europe in artificial intelligence (AI), the UK government has announced a new initiative to unlock cutting-edge innovation, support job creation, and accelerate research in vital sectors such as healthcare and clean energy
Adding to the recent UK agreement with the European Union, the government is encouraging public research organisations to apply to host the UK’s AI Factory Antenna.
This will connect British researchers with Europe’s most powerful supercomputers, allowing them to work closely with continental partners to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges.
Using advanced technology to drive economic growth
The UK hopes to use advanced technologies to improve economic growth by introducing this new collaboration. With European high-performance computing infrastructure access, UK researchers, startups, and public institutions can develop more complex AI models faster and more efficiently.
These advanced systems are key for innovations in healthcare, climate science, energy, and other sectors where vast data and rapid processing are essential.
The UK’s position in EuroHPC
Supercomputers are the foundation of AI research, offering the processing power required to manage and analyse massive datasets and to train sophisticated AI models.
This collaboration allows UK scientists and companies to tap into resources through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). This European initiative brings together 35 countries to develop world-class computing technologies.
The UK formally joined EuroHPC JU in May 2024 through its association with Horizon Europe, allowing UK entities to access these systems without additional cost.
The partnership will be strengthened through the AI Factory Antenna, which will act as the UK’s designated link to an EU-based AI Factory. These AI Factories combine supercomputing with access to data, training, and software support to accelerate AI development.
Today’s Expression of Interest calls on eligible UK public research organisations or consortia to apply to host this Antenna.
The UK government will then endorse the selected organisation to apply for up to €5 million in funding from EuroHPC. The UK government has allowed up to £2.5 million in co-funding for the successful host.
AI Opportunities Action Plan
This initiative aligns with the recommendations of the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which outlines steps to ensure the UK has the infrastructure and international partnerships needed to lead in AI. The Antenna is expected to shorten innovation timelines, allow for larger research projects, and help position the UK as a global leader in responsible AI development.
It also builds on growing investment in UK computing capabilities. Since July last year, £44 billion has been invested in data centres, and further plans are in motion. The government is preparing to announce new AI Growth Zones this summer, regional hubs designed to host AI infrastructure, attract private investment, and create thousands of skilled jobs.
These efforts will be supported by the upcoming Compute Strategy, a ten-year roadmap aimed at expanding the UK’s computing capacity twenty-fold to meet the demands of AI and other emerging technologies.
Applications for the AI Factory Antenna are open until Wednesday, 11 June, with a single UK organisation or consortium to be selected to lead this vital collaboration with Europe.
![Figure 1: Sketch of the evolution of the Universe over the last 13.77 billion years. It started with the Big Bang, followed by an extremely short period of rapid exponential expansion. The furthest we can see is the cosmic microwave background, when radiation decoupled from matter, approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang. This is followed by the ‘dark ages,’ during which this radiation redshifted from the visible regime into infrared and sub-mm wavelengths. The occurrence of the first stars, about 400 million years after the Big Bang, ended this phase, spearheading the formation of galaxies as we see them today. [Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team, public domain]](https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fig-1_1200-100x70.jpg "How did the first stars form in space?")
