The UK government is looking to strengthen its position in the race to explore and adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI). In order to advance into its AI foray, the UK government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with billionaire Sam Altman’s OpenAI this week.
According to an official statement from OpenAI, Altman joined Peter Kyle, U.K.’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in signing this MoU. As part of the agreement, OpenAI has agreed to help the UL explore the adoption of AI across public and private sectors.
Kyle, while commenting on the development, noted that the AI technology could prove to be pivitol in driving UK’s economic growth.
“AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country,” Kyle said. “This partnership will see more of their work taking place in the UK, creating high-paid tech jobs, driving investment in infrastructure, and crucially giving our country agency over how this world-changing technology moves forward.”
The UK government is looking to analyse how AI models can be integrated in government services to make the work of officials more efficient. The use of AI in improving the network of small business and public service ecosystems are also among UK’s priorities around AI.
For OpenAI, the UK has emerged among the top three international markets contributing to a significant portion of its paid subscribers. Altman, in his statement, lauded UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which outlines 50 recommendations that are likely to propel UK’s understanding, use, and adoption of AI.
“Britain has a strong legacy of scientific leadership and its Government was one of the first to recognize the potential of AI through its AI Opportunities Action Plan. Now, it’s time to deliver on the plan’s goals by turning ambition to action and delivering prosperity for all,” the OpenAI founder noted.
In the advanced stages of this partnership, OpenAI plans to expand its footprint in the UK market. It plans to share more details on the same later this year.
Earlier this month, Business.gov.uk claimed that the U.K.’s $92 billion AI market is the third largest in the world, just after the U.S. and China. Its data also claimed that the U.K. presently houses over 3,700 AI firms that have provided jobs to over 60,000 professionals.