University Of Bristol's Supercomputer To Help UK Become ‘Technological Superpower’

Study in UK: The UK government has announced to advance the country's AI capabilities and the nation's fastest supercomputer Isambard-AI is all set to play a major role in this development. University Of Bristol has received £225m government's investment to create this supercomputer.

The University of Bristol was recently crowned ‘AI University of the Year’ at the National AI Award. The UK government has invested £225m in the university to create the Isambard-AI supercomputer, which will play a significant role in the advancement of AI in the country.

The Isambard-AI supercomputer was assembled in record time with the help of the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) team.

Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, Director of BriCS and a leading expert in Higher Performance Computing (HPC) said, “The University of Bristol is proud to support the UK’s ambitious AI vision with Isambard-AI, the nation’s fastest supercomputer. Capable of performing in one second what would take the combined efforts of the entire global population 81 years, Isambard-AI represents a transformative leap forward. Already operational and with full production coming this year, it will play a central role in delivering a 20-fold increase in the UK’s AI capability within just a few years—faster and more cost-efficiently than commercial alternatives. This is a pivotal moment for AI in the UK."

Evelyn Welch, Vice-chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, said, "This is a vote of confidence for the University and the city. Universities have a vital role to play in research and innovation, and in facilitating long-term economic growth. AI presents us with many opportunities to fulfil this role. With its world-class technology, Isambard-AI will help nourish talent by providing training and support for students and researchers in advanced computational methods, while fostering interdisciplinary research efforts in the UK and globally.”

About University Of Bristol's Isambard-AI Supercomputer  

The National Composites Centre (NCC) houses the Isambard-AI supercomputer. It is expected to be the UK's fastest and most powerful supercomputer and is going to offer capacity never seen before in industries and researchers in the UK to harness the huge potential of AI fields such as big data, robotics, drug discovery, and climate research.

Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said, “AI has the potential to change all of our lives but for too long, we have been curious and often cautious bystanders to the change unfolding around us. With this plan, we become agents of that change. We already have remarkable strengths we can tap into when it comes to AI – building our status as the cradle of computer science and intelligent machines and establishing ourselves as the third largest AI market in the world. This government is determined that the UK is not left behind in the global race for AI, that’s why the actions we commit to will ensure that the benefits are spread throughout the UK so all citizens will reap the rewards of the bet we make today. This is how we’re putting our Plan for Change in motion.”     

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