The UK and France have launched a supercomputing partnership as part of a raft of new agreements following President Macron’s state visit.
Britain and France have agreed to collaborate on efforts to scale compute power capacity, a key element of growing the tech industries of both nations, as well as sharing best practices on AI research.
The agreement builds on the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which included plans to sign international reciprocal compute partnerships in its three-pronged approach to scaling UK computing capacity.
The partnership will be led by the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, part of the University of Bristol, and the GENCI computing centre in Paris.
There is already some basis for AI collaboration between the UK and France, including a cooperative agreement between Britain’s AI Security Institute, the agency tasked with monitoring and combatting dangers associated with the technology, and the French equivalent INESIA.
Despite some historical cooperation, the new agreement marks a turning point in the two countries’ AI collaboration, which has had an otherwise more competitive tone.
Notably, the UK was one of two countries to not sign a joint declaration offered by the French government at the Paris AI Action Summit in February, the other being the US.
Differences for now appear to have been put aside, with the countries also announcing a joint endeavour to develop technologies to protect critical infrastructure amid rising global threats.
“France and the UK both have huge ambitions for technology to boost economic growth and strengthen national security. It is vital we work with natural partners like our French neighbours in these endeavours, particularly as the threats from hostile state actors only grows,” said Tech Secretary Peter Kyle.
“Today we build on the Entente Cordiale with an Entente Technologique, celebrating and renewing our longstanding and historic partnership so that together we can face down the challenges of tomorrow.”
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