The UK government has announced it will invest up to £750 million for a new supercomputer in Edinburgh.

The supercomputer will be the most powerful in the UK, with the government saying it will give scientists in the country access to computing power found only in a few other nations.

The government said scientists will be able to use the supercomputer for cutting edge research in a variety of areas including medical treatments, sustainability and climate change.

The supercomputer will work alongside the AI research resource, a network of the UK’s most powerful supercomputers that were built to bolster scientific research.

The AI Research Resource, which is due to come into operation soon, is already being used to research Alzheimer’s vaccines and treatments for cancer by simulating how drugs work inside the body and testing millions of potential drugs virtually to speed up the creation of new medicines.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will confirm the £750 million to build the UK’s new national supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh in a spending review today.

The news follows an announcement by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer at London Tech Week that the government will invest an extra £1 billion in scaling up computational power by a factor of 20.

“From the shipyards of the Clyde to developments in steam engine technology, Scottish trailblazers were central to the industrial revolution – so the next great industrial leap through AI and technology should be no different,” said Peter Kyle, UK secretary of state for science, innovation, and technology. “Basing the UK’s most powerful supercomputer in Edinburgh, Scotland will now be a major player in driving forward the next breakthroughs that put our Plan for Change into action.”

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