Notice

Expression of Interest: AIRR Heterogeneous Supercomputer Host Site Selection

Updated 29 July 2026

1. Introduction

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is leading the delivery of both the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the UK AI Hardware Plan, both central to achieving the UK’s ambition to lead in AI. Key to these programmes is the AI Research Resource (AIRR), the UK’s flagship initiative providing free access to world-class AI compute capability to UK researchers, SMEs and public sector organisations.

Launched in July last year, AIRR currently includes Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol, and Dawn at the University of Cambridge. DSIT and UKRI have jointly funded further capacity at Cambridge with the Zenith supercomputer, and the portfolio will be further expanded through the introduction of an AIRR Cloud service.

AIRR provides the computing power behind the Sovereign AI mission and delivery of the government’s AI for Science ambition to accelerate scientific discovery and breakthroughs. It has already enabled companies like UK SME Astronomical AI to develop AI tools for lung cancer diagnosis and radiotherapy planning, using Isambard-AI to train and validate 3D deep learning models on large-scale CT scan datasets.

AIRR complements UKRI’s investment in the Next National Supercomputing Service and National Compute Resources, all part of the delivery of the UK Compute Roadmap and the commitment to develop an integrated, diverse public compute ecosystem which serves the needs of the UK’s research and innovation communities across a wide range of disciplines and use cases.

2. What is the AIRR Heterogenous Supercomputer?

At London Tech Week 2026, the Prime Minister announced that DSIT would continue the AIRR expansion programme by investing £750m in a new heterogeneous AI supercomputer (“the System”).

The System is expected to combine a core of established hardware with novel hardware to support next-generation research workloads, including large-scale inference and agentic workflows.

It is intended to give UK researchers access to capabilities at the frontier of global AI infrastructure, enabling them to train, test and deploy increasingly sophisticated models, tackle previously intractable scientific problems, and accelerate discoveries that can improve lives, create growth opportunities across the economy and bolster the UK’s strategic resilience. There is also an ambition to integrate quantum technologies in future, ensuring AIRR and the UK’s public compute offer continues to evolve alongside emerging technologies.

The System is expected to have a phased deployment to bring online capacity that expands and responds to emerging technologies that become available to the market:

• Phase 1 (to go live early 2028): will bring online additional AIRR capacity early and novel inference-optimised hardware technologies procured through the upcoming Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). The expectation is that this will require up to 10MW of power.

• Phase 2 (to go live in FY29/30): a full service delivery with additional modules of inference optimised hardware. We anticipate that this will require a total of 20-30 MW of power (including the up to 10 MW already in use from phase 1).

DSIT is seeking a strategic partner to host this national AI infrastructure capability, who will work closely with the department and delivery partners towards an ambitious, new type of system that will expand access to novel architectures and advanced hardware for the UK research community.

DSIT will adapt the system requirements based on evolving needs and the advancement of technology. However, we currently envision that the System will be comprised of:

• An established technology vendor ‘spine’ that is intended to provide an element of general-purpose AI compute
• Multiple modules of AI inference-specialised hardware, including an opportunity of a quantum module
• Advanced storage and networking
• Other relevant hardware
• A software integration and coordination layer enabling heterogenous workflows and agentic AI

The anticipated budget for the system build is £750m, of which £150m will fund the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) to purchase novel, high-performance inference capability. This procurement is to be awarded this summer by DSIT. This will be followed by a further £250m procurement process for additional specialised hardware for the System which will take place to support phase 2.

The remaining £350m shall be designated for established technology vendor hardware, as well as the data centre and associated infrastructure costs. Additional budget may also be allocated for operational expenditure and a potential quantum computing module.

3. Purpose of the EOI and Scope

The purpose of this EOI (Expression of Interest) is to gather information on the interest and ability to host the System. In particular, DSIT is seeking evidence of the ability to meet the infrastructure requirements and delivery timescales, operate the System securely and reliably, provide good value for money, and maximise the long-term strategic benefits of this investment for the UK’s public compute ecosystem through the development of national capability and public assets.

The list of current considerations for the host selection can be found in Annex A below.

The information gathered will be used to inform DSIT’s policy, technical requirements, and delivery strategy for the heterogeneous AIRR supercomputer, but may also inform future thinking for investments in public compute. DSIT reserves the right to determine the final delivery and funding mechanism for this project.

This does not constitute a call for competition, an invitation to tender, or a commitment by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) to award any funding or contracts. Respondents participate entirely at their own risk and cost. DSIT is under no obligation to progress to a formal solicitation or selection phase.

4. Future Funding Arrangements

This process is to inform the selection of a host site for the System. Funding arrangements for the data centre infrastructure are being developed and will be agreed with any selected host organisation. There will be further exercises in relation to procurement of the System, service provision and other eligible costs that are not covered within this process.

The host entity will be responsible for running the host site in line with the objectives of the AIRR Programme, including ensuring the security and resilience of the service. Please note DSIT will retain responsibility for the access policy defining usage of the System and its computational time will be allocated according to the AIRR programme policy.

The host site will be expected to work collaboratively with other AIRR sites and functions.

5. Which organisations can participate?

Host entities (“participants”) can be a single organisation or a partnership of organisations that is fronted by a lead research organisation responsible for data centre infrastructure provision and service provision.

In order to submit an EOI, the host entity or the lead research organisation within a partnership of organisations, should:

• Be based within the UK and eligible for UKRI funding.
• Have legal personality in the UK on the date of the deadline for responses and must be able to demonstrate their existence as a legal person.
• Have demonstrable experience in hosting and operating high-value large-scale compute services at a national level for research and/or innovation users.

This exercise is limited to these participants because the proposed host site is intended to support the physical hosting requirements, as well as the user-facing technical and institutional capability needed to operate the system as part of the national research ecosystem. This includes supporting complex and experimental research workloads, integrating novel hardware, developing specialist skills and ensuring that public investment in power, land and data centre capability creates sustainable national assets.

Out of Scope

At this stage, DSIT is not looking to support:

• Sites located outside the UK
• Any compute, storage, networking etc. beyond what is necessary to support the deployed heterogenous AIRR system

6. How to respond to the EOI

DSIT invites participants to respond to the questions set out in the template below. If applying as a consortium, one organisation and one contact person should be appointed as the coordinator, and only the coordinator should submit an application.

Participants should submit responses via compute@dsit.gov.uk by Monday 10 August 2026 at 11:59pm (BST).

Further clarifications and additional data may be requested by DSIT.

DSIT recognises that participants may not always be able to give firm answers when providing a response to the EOI. We ask that participants respond to the best of their knowledge, clearly stating any uncertainties or assumptions where appropriate.

EOI responses will be reviewed for completeness. If an otherwise acceptable EOI fails to provide all the required information, DSIT will notify the participant and allow a reasonable opportunity to resubmit. If there is a further failure to submit the required information within the timeframe set, DSIT will notify the participant and may disregard the submission.

7. Analysis of EOI Responses

EOI responses will be reviewed and analysed to inform the host site selection process, considering the factors set out in Annex A.

This will be used by DSIT to understand whether there are willing host entities with a credible pathway to delivering the infrastructure and services required within the AIRR programme.

Stage 1: Responses will be analysed against the delivery requirements for hosting the System.

Stage 2: Participants may be contacted further. This will provide an opportunity for DSIT to explore responses in greater depth, seek clarification of assumptions and discuss potential delivery options. Further details on this will be announced in due course.

A shortlist of participants may be invited to apply to be the host site in a future selection process, the final decision of which will be made by the Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

DSIT reserves the right to vary the process.

8. Support for Participants

A briefing took place on Monday 27 July as advertised. Please contact compute@dsit.gov.uk to request the recording and/or written responses to clarifications sought during this session.

Any further clarifying questions should be submitted via the same email address by Monday 3 August.

9. Disclaimers

Submission of an Expression of Interest does not create any obligation on DSIT to provide grant funding, enter into negotiations, or award a grant to any organisation.

Any prospective future award, including through a grant, will be subject to DSIT’s governance, approvals, budget availability and policy priorities.

DSIT reserves the right to amend, suspend or discontinue the EOI process, in whole or in part, at any time.

Participants are responsible for all costs incurred in preparing and submitting an EOI and participating in any subsequent discussions. DSIT will not reimburse any such costs, regardless of the outcome of the process.

Participants are responsible for ensuring that information provided is accurate, complete and not misleading. DSIT reserves the right to verify any information supplied and to exclude submissions where material inaccuracies are identified.

Participants invited to progress beyond the EOI stage may be subject to further assessment, including financial, technical, commercial, fraud, subsidy control, legal and delivery due diligence.

Information supplied may be subject to disclosure requirements under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and other applicable legislation. While DSIT will consider any requests for confidentiality, it cannot guarantee that information will not be disclosed where there is a legal obligation to do so.

10. Response Format (questions to complete)

Administrative Data

Question 1: Which organisation is the prime lead on the response and proposed delivery?

• Organisation name
• Organisation address
• Legal Status
• Confirm if the organisation is able to participate in this EOI

Question 2: Who is the point of contact within the organisation?

• Name
• Role
• Contact email address
• Contact telephone number

Question 3: Do you plan on delivering the requirement through a consortium?

• Confirm all members of the consortia able to participate in this EOI
• What is the current or proposed legal structure of the consortium?
• Please provide an indication of the operational model, including how responsibilities for data centre operations, management, user support, commissioning and working with DSIT

(Word Limit: 100 words)

Infrastructure Readiness

Question 4: Please provide details of the proposed accommodation for the System, including:

• Site locations and facility overview
• Available and planned space in m²
• Whether the space exists today, requires modification, or requires new build
• Fire suppression solution
• Constraints, dependencies and delivery risks
• Evidence to support your confidence in meeting the Phase 1 and Phase 2 timelines

(Word limit: 500 words)

Question 5: Please provide details of current and prospective future power provision and power management arrangements that would be made available for the operation of the service in line with the Phase 1 and Phase 2 timelines set out above.

• Current available net power capacity
• Prospective future capacity, including that which is currently pipelined but has not yet been fully consented
• Additional capacity required for Phase 1 and Phase 2
• Constraints, dependencies and delivery risks
• Evidence to support your confidence in meeting the Phase 1 and Phase 2 timelines
• Backup power, resilience and power management arrangements

(Word limit: 250 words)

Question 6: Please provide details and any available evidence of the existing and planned cooling, network, proposals to maximise the security and resilience and building management.

(Word limit: 250 words)

Delivery Capability

Question 7: Please confirm if you have institutional backing (e.g. from a PVC, Chair, CEO or equivalent) for this proposal, stating how this fits with institutional plans and governance arrangements.

(Word Limit: 100 words)

Question 8: Please provide an indicative delivery plan for making the proposed site ready for Phase 1 and Phase 2.

• Latest feasible dates for site readiness, power availability, cooling availability, networking availability and security readiness
• Dependencies and decision points
• Assumptions underpinning the timeline
• Information of evidence that the timetable is achievable

(Word limit: 250 words)

Question 9: Please provide details of the hosting entity/ consortium leadership team’s track record in hosting large-scale national compute system and services, including:

• The organisational structure and governance arrangements, especially project management
• The technologies, systems and adjacent services currently deployed by the hosting entity to deliver compute services, in particular large-scale computing
• The accreditations (e.g. relevant ISO standards) currently held by the hosting entity for existing services

(Word limit: 250 words)

Question 10: Please explain how the host entity and/or consortium would support installation, integration, testing and operation of novel inference-optimised hardware that DSIT plans to procure through the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). Please consider in your answer your experience in resolving technical challenges and working with vendors.

(Word limit: 250 words)

Value for Money

Question 11: Please provide a table of indicative yearly cost breakdowns broken down by the capital items associated with delivering the data centre. Example items include:

• Land
• Site preparation
• Power connection(s)
• Security cost(s)
• Networking connection(s)
• Construction/modification of the building(s) and perimeter (itemised as appropriate)
• Site electrical infrastructure, e.g. transformers, cabling, generators, UPS, batteries, switch gear, PSUs etc.
• Site cooling infrastructure, e.g. chillers, pumps, heat exchangers etc,
• Professional service relating the above
• Any other elements (please specify)

Please also state the indicative per annum operating costs, and if possible within that what the energy costs would be.

Please provide the costs as VAT inclusive.

Question 12: Please provide indicative costs for staff associated with the delivery and operation of the data centre and user support for the supercomputer broken down by year. Please identify those costs which are borne directly by members of the consortium and those that are “flow through.”

(Word limit: 100 words)

Question 13: Please provide your approach to minimising and managing energy costs, including current electricity prices, expected future costs, local discounts, exemptions, existing contracts and exposure to future price changes.

(Word limit: 100 words)

Strategic Fit

Question 14: Please provide details of the host entity’s current and future plans to support national capability building. This can include the provision of advanced user support, partnerships across the research landscape, and plans to cater to a diverse range of users, amongst other ideas.

(Word limit: 250 words)

Question 15: Please provide details of the sustainability and the energy efficiency of existing and planned facilities. This could include, energy procurement policies, plans to minimise emissions and other relevant initiatives.

(Word limit: 100 words)

Annex A: Considerations

Below is a list of current areas that DSIT is considering with regards to the feasibility of deploying the System. DSIT reserves the right to alter these considerations.

Infrastructure Readiness
Power Availability	Whether there is a credible path and sufficient delivery confidence in providing the required capacity in line with project timescales: Phase 1 (early 2028) requires up to 10MW. Phase 2 (by FY 2029/30) requires up to 20 to 30MW of power to the data centre. Further consideration will be given if the host is also able to credibly demonstrate how it will provide power availability beyond the minimum requirements listed above.
Space Availability	Whether there is a credible path and sufficient delivery confidence in providing the required data centre space, which needs to be available for the full lifetime of the system and include access to high-density cooling. Timelines as above.
Network Connections	If there is current access or a credible path to securing high-bandwidth connections to national research networks (for example, JANET) with an ability to support very large data transfers (training datasets, model outputs).
Security Standards	If there are facilities that meet the required security certifications, including ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, or have a credible plan to obtain them by December 2028. Whether host facilities are able to meet an enhanced Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) profile tailored for supercomputing environments, covering areas such as access control, security monitoring, staff training, and incident response planning.

Delivery Capability
Institutional Support	If host entities have support of senior leadership for hosting an AIRR system of this scale and ambition.
System Delivery Experience	If there are potential hosts with recent and repeatable experience the site team has in delivering a similar national system, including awareness of risks and ability to manage them through delivery of the system on site.
Service Delivery Experience	If there are potential hosts with recent and repeatable experience of the site team in providing an ongoing, national-level service that reaches government expectation. This includes showing programme management and staff expertise, commissioning support for working with suppliers, professionalism and ownership to resolve issues that arise in the course of service delivery.
Novel Hardware Experience	If there are host sites with experience working with novel hardware suppliers, deploying novel hardware and resolving technical challenges.

Value for Money
Total Cost of Data Centre Build	Understand the indicative costs to deliver power to the site, designed and constructed to the specification of data centre required for this system. Cost assumptions and confidence should be made clear. Participants should set out breakdowns of component pricing across capital, labour, power, and all other items.
Operational Cost of Data Centre	Understand the indicative costs to manage and operate the facility for the lifetime of the system. Cost assumptions and confidence should be made clear.
Energy Costs to Run	Understand indicative energy costs, including any local discounts and exemptions.
System Support Costs	Understand the cost to maintain and operate the system and support users.

Strategic Value
National Capability Building	How the investment at a particular site strengthens the UK’s wider research and innovation environment beyond compute provision. This could include developing domestic skills and talent in system operation, software engineering and novel hardware integration, and creating reusable national assets through investment in power, land and data centre infrastructure.
Resilience	Whether investment supports resilience of the UK’s long term public compute infrastructure. This could include security considerations, and maintaining public sector hosting capability and public assets which can be further developed and operated in a way that supports UK research, innovation and public priorities over time.
Sustainability	How the host site would support the sustainable operation of the system, including the source of power, credible measures to reduce or offset environmental impact or ambitions to achieve sustainability certification. If there are any specific considerations with rising energy demand, these should be set out.
Strategic Fit	The fit against a broader portfolio of compute and research offerings, and regional distribution to ensure that benefits of national capability are felt across the UK.