Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's consultation outcome entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, CP 1019, updated on 6 February 2024, what progress her Department has made on boosting AI research through the launch of nine new research hubs across the UK.

UK research and Innovation’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has invested £86 million in new research hubs that will propel the UK to the forefront of advanced AI research. The hubs are broad consortia of universities and businesses, which will leverage the UK’s world leading AI research, connecting universities and businesses and creating spinouts who will deliver next-generation innovations and technologies.

This focussed investment will enable AI to evolve and tackle complex problems across applications from healthcare treatments to power-efficient electronics, transforming the way we develop and use AI, and is part of a larger investment of over £300 million in AI research and training by EPSRC over the past 12 months, safeguarding the UK’s digital future.