Expanding the AI Research Resource: Request for Information
Published 10 March 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/expanding-the-ai-research-resource-request-for-information/expanding-the-ai-research-resource-request-for-information
This Request for Information seeks to understand how the UK government can meet this ambitious target of increasing compute capacity for AI research by twenty-fold.
What we need from this Request for information
We would like to understand:
- what capabilities exist in the marketplace
- what role partnerships between HM Government and industry can play in building and securing new capability
- how the full landscape of UK AI research could be supported through partnership arrangements to strengthen the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities
Responses to this Request for Information will inform both the:
- government’s Compute Strategy (due to be released during 2025)
- DSIT’s commercial strategy on AI infrastructure
We may invite you to discuss your responses with DSIT. We will ask you to indicate whether you would be happy to be contacted for this purpose in your response.
The following is ‘out of scope’ and we don’t need information on:
- the use of compute, and particular applications of AI
- AI Growth Zones (this is not in scope - but is linked to the target to scale up the UK’s AI Research Resource capacity twenty-fold by 2030.
Please note the following general conditions:
- This Request for Information does not commit DSIT or HMG to procure any goods, services or works, and is not part of any formal procurement process.
- No down-selection of Potential Providers will take place as a consequence of any responses or interactions relating to this Request for Information. Not taking part in this Request for Information does not preclude any organisation from taking part in any related future procurement or commercial competition.
- Any and all costs associated with the production of such a response either to this Request for Information or a further competition must be borne by you. We will not contribute in any way to meeting production costs of any response.
- We expect that all responses to this Request for Information will be provided in good faith to the best of your ability in the light of information available at the time of your response.
- No information provided by your organisation in response to this Request for Information will be carried forward, used or acknowledged in any way for the purpose of evaluating your organisation, in any subsequent formal procurement process.
- Any responses will be handled by DSIT as confidential for use in line with the described purposes, and will not be shared outside of DSIT, DSIT’s Public Bodies and the Crown Commercial Service without your express permission.
Organisations who are invited to respond
We invite responses from organisations with:
- Existing and/or growing UK AI-HPC data centre capabilities, and associated data centre operation and support
- Data centre construction capability and experience, including system builders and integrators
- Compute hardware designers and suppliers
- High performance cloud compute capability and services
- Interest in investment, financing or hosting of high-performance data centre development
How to respond
-
Email your completed response to compute@dsit.gov.uk by 5pm on Thursday 17 April 2025.
Any responses received after 17 April 2025 may not be considered. Please also note the indicated page limits for each question. Any questions that are not relevant to your organisation can be left blank.
Timetable
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10 March 2025 | Publication of the Request for Information |
| 20 March 2025 | Briefing session (find out how to register) |
| 17 April 2025 | Deadline for responses to the Request for Information |
Register for a briefing session
We will host a briefing session on Thursday 20 March 2025, at 3pm. The session briefing will describe the RFI process, how to respond, and take questions from potential respondents.
Register here to attend the briefing session.
Attending the briefing session is optional and does not preclude you from taking part in the Request for Information.
Response format (questions to complete)
Organisation information
- Organisation name
- Company number (if applicable)
- Organisation address
- Contact email address
- Contact telephone number
What is your interest in the Request for Information (delete as appropriate)
Data Centres / Cloud / Hardware / Investment / Hosting
Question 1: summary
- Please provide a summary of how your capability could contribute to reaching the target to scale up the UK’s AI Research Resource capacity twenty-fold by 2030
Page limit: 1 page of A4.
Question 2: Systems and hardware
- What high performance compute systems could be made available to AI Researchers through a partnership with your organisation? Please reference and particular notable qualities and scale.
Please also indicate if you would be able to offer any new/novel computing technologies, in addition to classical computing systems.
Page limit: 2 pages of A4.
Question 3: Sustainability
- To what extend do your existing or proposed capabilities address sustainability challenges associated with the provision of high-performance compute, such as carbon emissions?
Page limit: 1 page of A4.
Question 4: AI Research
- How will partnering with your organisation enable public sector AI research?
- How will partnering with your organisation enable collaboration across public and private sector researchers?
- What do you consider to be relevant qualities of compute capabilities for different AI research uses, for example differences in hardware architecture?
Page limit: 1 page of A4.
Question 5: Challenges
- What do you perceive to be the key barriers to meeting the ambition to scale up the UK’s AI Research Resource capacity twenty-fold by 2030?
- What aspects of the AI infrastructure ecosystem should DSIT be aware of in designing plans to meet this commitment?
Page limit: 1 page of A4.
Question 6: Partnering and commercial models
- What commercial models would be possible between DSIT or HM Government and your organisation?
- What partnering models could offer shared benefit to meet shared goals?
Page limit: 1 page of A4.
Question 7: Financial
- Please provide any relevant financial information relating to the information provided, such as details of pricing of existing capabilities.
This could include any relevant capital or operational cost breakdowns or scenario-based costs of proposed capabilities.
Page limit: 2 pages of A4.
Can we contact you in the future
Are you happy for DSIT to contact you regarding the information provided in your response?
Yes / No
Contact details
If you have any questions regarding this Request for Information, please contact compute@dsit.gov.uk.