Technology secretary ready to support Glasgow’s bid to be next AI growth zone

Technology secretary Peter Kyle has said he is “excited” about Glasgow’s potential to become an innovation hotbed as bidding on AI Growth Zones kicks off.

The UK Government has begun taking proposals on which local authority areas should become the UK's AI Growth Zones, a pillar in Labour’s plans for the UK to become a “superpower” in the sector.

These areas are designed to streamline planning for AI infrastructure such as data centres and attract investment.

Kyle described Glasgow as “forward-looking”, praising its work in “pioneering” technologies include quantum and space.

He said: “I already know that really enthusiastic and pioneering areas like Glasgow have been preparing for this opportunity even before the criteria has been released.

“That is a real credit to Glasgow. I was in Glasgow recently and saw the work they're doing in pioneering technologies like quantum, and the space for the orbital economy with the manufacture of satellites. And it shows just how forward-looking Glasgow is as a city. 

“I am absolutely excited by the potential of them bidding for a growth zone. I'm excited to see what they come up with.”

It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Scotland had great potential for the government’s AI plans when responding to Scottish Labour MP’s Gordon McKee call for Glasgow to be a contender for the next wave of hubs.

Starmer accused the SNP of siding against economic growth. However, Kyle told journalists getting the SNP on board with the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” had not been a challenge. 

He said: “We have a really constructive relationship with the Scottish Government over AI growth zones. We're putting on the table, as the UK Government, the opportunity of a lifetime and all four nations are engaging with that with the enthusiasm that you would expect, and that includes the Scottish Government.”

The UK Government is looking for areas with a power capacity of more than 500MW or “clear” plans to expand energy provision, which are also deindustrialised and are close to major energy infrastructure such as wind farms and solar stations.

Kyle said there were no limits on the number of AI Growth Zones the UK could have, adding he expects a “pipeline of announcements” to come soon. 

To date, the only zone announced is Culham in Oxfordshire.

Kyle said: “This is not something that we will be sitting on and coming round to when we have time. This is something that we will be working on round the clock because our whole country and economy is excited by it and needs it.”

However, Kyle failed to mention any other Scottish cities.

And when asked about whether the government would rescue the exascale supercomputer project at the University Edinburgh – which was scrapped following a £1.3bn budget cut to AI project in August – Kyle said: “The exascale program was not cut. It never existed in the first place, because when Boris Johnson announced it, he never put any money towards it, which is a real shame.”

He said Edinburgh University was “paying the price” for the “terrible legacy” inherited from the prior Conservative government.

He added: “Into the near future, I'm looking forward to solving some of the real challenges and problems for which we inherited from the previous government, including how we invest in supercomputing of the exascale nature that our country needs.”