Council for Science and Technology advocates for UK AI chip design industry

The Council for Science and Technology (CST) has released a report outlining a set of recommendations for developing a sovereign AI chip design industry in the UK.

The CST, which provides independent advice to the government, described the UK as uniquely positioned to build an AI chip design sector with the right investment.

The report says that there is now a “once-in-20-years” opportunity for the UK to build a profitable AI chip design industry in one of the largest markets in the world.

The CST said that the UK chip industry has declined since its peak, describing this as a “lost opportunity.”

It added that this decline has led to a loss of confidence and disagreement over where, how, and whether to rebuild it.

The first commercial computer, the first electronic memory, the first parallel computer, and the first widely used chip IP model – which is used in most smartphones – were all developed in the UK.

While the AI Opportunities Plan outlines the government’s intention to invest heavily in AI, the CST said it is “quiet” on UK-designed chips for AI.

The report made six recommendations covering the skills and training required to build an AI chip workforce, finance and investment needs, and the infrastructure capabilities the UK requires to achieve a competitive chip design industry.

It called on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Department for Education (DfE) to increase the number of new chip designers in the UK workforce by 2030 by creating bursaries and chip design course.

The CST also says that the DSIT and DfE should expand investment in training and skills for optoelectronics as AI chips will soon require optical chip-to-chip communications which will drive significant growth in the field.

Optoelectronics involves the generation, processing, and detection of optical signals that represent electric quantities.

Additionally, the organisation recommended that the DSIT and Ministry of Defence (MoD) set clear strategic objectives on semiconductors to send a strong signal to the industry about where activity is most useful. Alongside this, it suggested that the UK’s semiconductor infrastructure provides SME chip companies and academics with affordable and timely access to facilities.

The organisation added that government should coordinate investment through the entire innovation pipeline to support the growth of the UK AI chip industry.

Finally the CST said the DSIT and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) should explore UK access to the leading-edge technology required by start-ups, which can be achieved directly through partnerships with companies and as part of international trade agreements.

“We have strong AI and design expertise and creativity in our universities; a growing ecosystem of AI companies; and ARIA’s Scaling Compute programme has identified and brought together, for the first time in the UK, talent and ideas with the potential to create novel vertical AI systems,” the report said. “However, this will require bold commitments from the government to put the right foundations in place, including the training of an AI chip workforce.”