UK To Spend $127M in Global Race To Produce AI Chips

The UK government will spend $127m to try to win a toe-hold for the nation in the global race to produce computer chips used to power artificial intelligence. From a report: Taxpayer money will be used as part of a drive to build a national AI resource in Britain, similar to those under development in the US and elsewhere. It is understood that the funds will be used to order key components from major chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Intel. But an official briefed on the plans told the Guardian that the $127m offered by the government is far too low relative to investment by peers in the EU, US and China. The official confirmed, in a move first reported by the Telegraph, which also revealed the investment, that the government is in advanced stages of an order of up to 5,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia. The company, which started out building processing capacity for computer games, has seen a sharp increase in its value as the AI race has heated up. Its chips can run language learning models such as ChatGPT.

127 Million? How about 127 Billion?

[khchung]

$127M? Are you joking? People might take this seriously if it were $127B.

It's like riding a bicycle saying you are going to compete in an F1 race.

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[drolli]

Hey, its half a wafer scanner which you can buy from that........

Re:127 Million? How about 127 Billion?

[timeOday]

Yegads

ASML's most advanced machines in current commercial production, known as EUV lithography systems because of the "Extreme Ultraviolet" light waves they use to map out the circuitry of computer chips, are as big as a bus and cost around $150 million each.
...
ASML said it has received orders for five prototypes of the next iteration of the system, known as "High NA" EUV machines, which will have a different optical system with a higher numerical aperture, will be even larger, and cost around $300 million each.

https://www.reuters.com/techno... [reuters.com]

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[znrt]

they're just buying 5000 nvidia gpus so their researchers can play around with training some models too. for perspective, openai alone had over 20000 of those to train gpt.

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[NoWayNoShapeNoForm]

$127M? Are you joking? People might take this seriously if it were $127B.

It's like riding a bicycle saying you are going to compete in an F1 race.

To paraphrase James Bond from the movie "Moonraker" "That 127M is keeping the Britsh End Up !"

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[default luser]

they already made arm chips, so this is an obvious next--step

yeah, arm is worldwide, but largest location is still Cambridge

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[Viol8]

Though the scientifically and technically illiterate cretins in westminster allowed ARM to be bought by the japanese in 2016. No other western country would have allowed one of its corporations so pivotal to the techological future to be sold abroad. But thats what you get when dim chancers with no forsight who only understand price not value are in charge.

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[brokie]

I'm gonna WIN!!! *Ching Ching*

So....

[Schoenlepel]

I guess poverty and all kinds of other social issues are all of a sudden less important to the UK government?

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[Anonymous Coward]

were they important recently? how long have conservatives been in charge over there? this is the country that "brexited" not that long ago lest we forget

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[blackt0wer]

Respectfully, no party actually cares about their voting base. Modern politicians have no incentive to fix problems. They only care about getting elected, and they use problems as campaign fodder. They promise to fix the problems, but once they are in office, they do nothing. This is because fixing problems is hard and it takes time. It is much easier to just make promises and then blame the other party when the problems don't get fixed.

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[dlarge6510]

> were they important recently

Right now mate.

Thanks to covid and the war cost of living and interest rates have skyrocketed.

Some numpties try to blame Brexit :D

Brexit beng the best thing thats happened recently, yet has been totally wasted by a inept government that continues to jerk off the un-elected plutocrats in the EU.

The alternative is Labour, headed by a guy who cant answer a question unless it gives him the oppertunity to moan about the Government, whilst struggling to fix his parties reputation

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[mjwx]

I guess poverty and all kinds of other social issues are all of a sudden less important to the UK government?

£100 million is nothing in a £1,040 billion budget. It's far less than they gave their mates in a single PPE contract. I mean they've announced a £27 billion tax cut for big business in the last budget.

I suspect who this £100 million is going to has already been decided and it's going to be a friend of the Conservative party, who will pocket the grant and deliver nothing of note.

In case it's not obvious, poverty, social inequality, crime, health care and other issues have never

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[AmiMoJo]

While it is important to invest in the future of the economy, this is most likely just free money for Tory cronies.

Interestingly it's about half what Tory peer Michelle Mone owes the government, and that's before there's been a proper criminal investigation into her COVID money theft. She is currently in London but they don't seem to be making much effort to collect it. If she had been on benefits and been overpaid 80p three years ago she'd been locked up by now.

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[groobly]

The monarch is in charge? I learn something new about the British system all the time.

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[Viol8]

You talk about dumb yet are so pig fucking ignorant that you donk't even realise that the monarch hasn't been the real power in the UK since Charles I was beheaded (by order of parliament, work it out halfwit).

I guess its irony day again.

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[dlarge6510]

What has His Majesty got to do with the running of the country?

Together, we can succeed!

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Just think, if the UK could team up with a number of rich, powerful countries with highly educated work forces & strong infrastructure nearby & work together to put some serious incentives on the table they might be able to attract... erm... oh yeah... Brexshit.

And I plan to buy coffee.

[OneOfMany07]

Are you going to blow your nose too?

Speculation.

[Motleypuss]

Perhaps our beloved PM, Rishi Sunak, is powered by a prototype chip? It might explain the way he waves...

A brit interprets this:

[Smid]

The UK Tory government will give money to Tory donors to piss away, in the latest of a long line of bribery, payoffs and bungs.

The most it will probably buy will be a bag of chips, perhaps even with fish.

Oh and huge mansions and yachts to the people who will employ the current UK Tory party members in a years time.