Microsoft sees many opportunities for AI research and development in the UK and is now opening a dedicated AI hub in the heart of London for that purpose. The company earlier announced it would invest around 2.9 billion euros (2.5 billion British Pounds) in AI in the UK.
According to recently appointed Microsoft AI director Mustafa Suleyman, former Inflection AI co-founder and co-founder of DeepMind, the new Microsoft AI London hub in the British capital will focus on two areas: developing state-of-the-art LLMs and their underlying infrastructure and developing the best tooling for foundation models.
The department will work closely with all other Microsoft teams that focus on AI and with partners. One such example is OpenAI, of which Microsoft is also a majority shareholder. Perhaps not coincidentally, the latter company also has an office in London.
Follow-up to previous investments
The investment in the new AI hub follows an earlier £2.5 billion AI investment Microsoft made in the UK. This included establishing a dedicated AI data center in London and making training courses available to bring one million Britons into the AI sector.
For the UK, the arrival of Microsoft AI London also means many new jobs. Exactly how many is as of yet unknown, but the first job openings will appear soon, according to Suleyman.
AI security is key motivation
Suleyman, who is himself partly of British descent, went on to say that as far as Microsoft is concerned, the UK is very attractive to AI investment because of how the country handles AI security. According to the tech giant, the country has AI responsibility and “safety first” high on its agenda and sees it as a key driver of investment, innovation in new technology, and resulting economic growth.
In addition, the US and UK governments have recently reached several agreements regarding cooperation on AI and the potential risks posed by the technology.
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