Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to p.22 of the Plan for Change, CP 1210, published on 5 December 2024, what progress he has made on capturing the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution through the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan.

AI offers the most powerful lever we have for national renewal; it underpins the Government’s plan to drive economic growth, transform public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Government has welcomed the Action Plan and accepted all 50 recommendations to deliver these benefits.

Progress has been made across a range of actions, including holding the first AI Energy Council meeting, signing an MOU with Anthropic, and opening the formal AI Growth Zone application process. We will continue to work on all recommendations, such as bringing the AI Research Resource online; this includes the Isambard-AI and Dawn supercomputers and is expected to increase the UK's AI compute capacity by 20 times.