£120m set aside to help UK companies design, develop and test new chips
issued Monday, June 8, 2026 · 10:15 p.m.
[LONDON] Britain on Monday (June 8) unveiled a new £1.1 billion (S$1.9 billion) plan to build domestic AI computing capacity, including funding to build a new national supercomputer and support domestic semiconductor companies.
The strategy builds on a £400m commitment to buy specialized AI chips announced by Chancellor Keir Starmer at London Tech Week earlier on Monday, as part of wider efforts to strengthen the country’s sovereign computing capacity.
A £750m national AI supercomputer is due to be deployed in 2030, using a mixed-chip system combining proven and next-generation processors.
Around £400m of the supercomputer’s budget will go towards next-generation chips, including £150m for inference chips it will buy from a British company this summer.
A fund led by US venture capital firm Playground Global and backed by up to £150m from the British Business Bank will invest in UK AI hardware companies.
BBB’s commitment is the bank’s largest single-fund investment to date.
Playground Global opens its first office outside the US in the UK.
The £120m AI Hardware Innovation Program will provide UK companies with funding to design, develop and test new chips.
Around £45m of new skills support takes the government’s total skills funding for the AI hardware sector to £80m. Reuters
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