The UK will embrace AI faster than any other G7 nation in a bid to boost growth and investment, the chancellor is set to promise in a major economic speech.
Rachel Reeves will make her case at the annual Mais lecture – an event for bank bosses, chancellors and prime ministers to set out their economic vision – on Tuesday afternoon.
Following the launch of a landmark £2.5 billion AI funding package, Reeves will argue that putting the UK at the forefront of the AI revolution will drive growth and investment – and ensure that “the technologies of the future” are “invented, built and deployed here in Britain”.
Reeves will warn against “burying our heads in the sand” on AI, calling the technology “the defining technology of our era”.
“We can leave it to the market alone, and let the balance of risk and reward be determined by a super-wealthy few. Or we can chart our own course,” she will say.
And despite fears that AI could wipe out millions of jobs, the chancellor will promise that her strategy will boost employment, creating more than 100k jobs and £212 billion of investment over the next two decades.
She says these will come largely from her ambition to “lead the quantum revolution”, as the UK will become the first country in the world to commit to rolling out quantum computers at scale.
Quantum is a new type of computer technology that uses physics to process more data and solve more complex problems than traditional computers.
ITV News has previously reported on how quantum technology is helping to make improvements in healthcare, including in identifying the early signs of life-limiting conditions.
Nearly all of the new AI money the government has announced will go towards investment in this area, with funding targeted at buying new quantum computers, training experts and backing research and existing companies.
£500 million will also go towards British AI companies – money which the government will launch in full this April.
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A focus on quantum and AI is one part of what Reeves will call the “three biggest opportunities for economic growth in the UK”.
The Chancellor will also outline how closer ties with Europe and prioritising regional prosperity are also central to her economic philosophy – with her policies set to focus on how the UK can align more closely with EU regulation to make trade with the bloc easier.
Reeves is hoping her priorities will improve the UK’s economic prospects, amidst rising oil prices and global economic uncertainty as a result of the war in Iran.
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