Supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and backed by the government, the labs will aim to open up new avenues for how AI can be used, focusing on the fundamentals of AI and how costs can be lowered and performance improved.

The Science of Fundamental AI Research Lab (Sofair) will seek to develop open-source AI technologies that runs on widely available hardware, and will be led by Professor David Barber at UCL with input from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh.

Sofair will bring together researchers from computer science, mathematics, statistics and neuroscience to explore new ways to design AI systems, to help make the tools cheaper and more accessible.

The second lab, the British Open-ended Learning and Discover Lab (Bold), will focus on rethinking how AI learns from the world around us, and will be led by Professor Jakob Foerster at the University of Oxford, with UCL and Imperial College London support.

Bold will develop systems that can learn more efficiently, adapt to new situations and navigate physical spaces, focusing on practical, human-centred AI to help workplaces, infrastructure and public services use the technology.

The funding is being made available through UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to support these labs over the next six years, alongside access to large scale computing power.

The announcement doubles the number of previously planned AI labs and adds an additional £20m in funding, and forms part of UKRI’s £1.6bn AI strategy.

Both labs will have access to £2m to hire at least 10 doctoral students each, and they will work closely with the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI’s AI research hubs.

Professor Barber said: “While current AI systems are impressive, many still suffer from basic issues such as inaccurate responses to questions.

“These systems often use similar underlying architectures, so Sofair will bring together the broader sciences and fresh ideas to create a new generation of open-source models. This will reduce dependency on the small number of model providers, boosting UK sovereignty and its position as a global player in AI.”

Professor Foerster said: “The UK cannot win the global AI race simply by trying to outspend the largest technology companies on data and compute. Bold is about a different route: discovering fundamentally new ways to build AI that are more efficient, more open and better aligned with human needs. 

“By focusing on new paradigms for learning, rather than only scaling existing methods, we aim to help secure the UK’s sovereign capability in AI and ensure that academic research can shape the future of the field.” 

Professor Charlotte Deane, senior responsible owner for the UKRI AI programme and executive chair at EPSRC, said: “The UK is already one of the world’s leading nations in AI research. We are one of the few countries in the world with all the right ingredients, from a deep pool of top AI experts to world-class universities.

“These labs will put that advantage to work, backing the bold, high-reward ideas that can shape the future of AI. We look forward to working with the labs to maximise the benefits for the UK.”

AI minister Kanishka Narayan said: “These new labs will lead the world in the fundamental work that is set to make AI cheaper, more practical and easier to adopt so more businesses and public services across the UK can benefit.

“By building this capability here at home, backed by our world leading universities, we’re strengthening our own expertise, reducing reliance on others and securing Britain’s place at the forefront of this technology – fittingly announced on what would have been Alan Turing’s 114^th birthday.”