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A government-commissioned report is anticipated to say the UK should reduce the fee and complexity of visas for individuals with expertise in artificial intelligence and create dedicated data center zones.
Venture capitalist Matt Clifford's AI Opportunities Action Plan, submitted to the federal government last month and expected to be published in November, makes dozens of recommendations on the right way to make Britain more attractive to corporations developing machine learning technologies.
Science and Technology Minister Peter Kyle said he would put AI at the center of the federal government's growth agenda, arguing that productivity would rise by 5 percent if the technology was fully integrated into the economy.
Kyle commissioned the report in July and called on Clifford to create an “motion plan” on the right way to drive the expansion of the AI sector and support the uptake of the technology across the UK.
Clifford held several roundtable discussions with industry leaders, entrepreneurs and investors between July and September to realize insight into the right way to support UK AI corporations and forestall them from moving abroad.
Several people expressed concerns concerning the lengthy bureaucracy and costs of hiring foreign talent, and improving the visa process is prone to be considered one of Clifford's recommendations, in line with people briefed on the plan.
Another proposal that has been recommend is to create “compute zones” to further Kyle’s ambitions of constructing more data centers across the UK.
These proposed zones would facilitate the development of information centers and associated infrastructure – including energy supplies – in certain designated areas of the United Kingdom, the people said.
The AI motion plan isn’t yet finalized and should be subject to changes by the federal government, they added.
Kyle has already designated data centers as “critical national infrastructure” to make sure they receive government support to recuperate from future cyberattacks and outages, and has indicated he’ll release substandard green belt land for his or her construction.
But several data center executives told the Financial Times that considered one of the largest obstacles to recent data center projects is uncertain availability and high energy costs.
In addition to the AI Action Plan, Kyle will establish an “AI Opportunity Unit” to implement accepted recommendations.
The proposal to ease the visa process for foreign AI experts is prone to face some resistance from the Home Office as the federal government goals to cut back net migration to the UK and forestall overseas hiring getting used as an alternative choice to tackling domestic skills shortages grow to be.
The hottest entry route for individuals with technical and AI skills to the UK is the Global Talent Visa, which was introduced in 2020.
According to a government assessment of this system earlier this yr, roughly 17,012 global talent visa applications were submitted between April 2020 and April 2023, of which greater than 12,000 were approved. The assessment found that a 3rd of applicants felt that completing and submitting their application took longer than expected.
Applicants should be supported by a UK body, similar to government research body UK Research and Innovation and start-up scaler Tech Nation, which costs around £520, and must wait for his or her support to be approved before they’ll submit an application, one costs one other £200.
Individuals will then should pay an extra immigration health surcharge of £625 a yr, together with greater than £700 per dependent joining them within the UK.
A government spokesperson said: “Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan will set out an ambitious vision for the way the UK can use the technology to extend adoption across the economy, boost growth and construct an AI sector that may scale and compete can.” global stage.”
“We will present our response sooner or later,” they said.
