An £800 million Scottish supercomputer has been thrown into doubt after the new UK government shelved funding for AI infrastructure.
Edinburgh University had already invested £31 million in a building to house the system, which would have been 50 times faster than any other computer in Britain.
The institution said its principal was seeking urgent talks with Peter Kyle, the UK science minister, over the decision, which was described as “terrible news” by Angus Robertson, the Scottish government culture secretary.
Overall the new Labour government at Westminster — which says it has inherited numerous unfunded spending commitments and a £20 billion financial black hole — has shelved £1.3 billion promised by the Conservatives for tech and AI infrastructure.
This includes £800 million for the Edinburgh