The UK is trying to build a foundational AI research capability it doesn’t currently have — and it wants applications in four weeks.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and UKRI jointly announced the funding call for a new AI research lab, backed by up to £40M over six years. That’s roughly £6.7M per year — a meaningful commitment for a single lab, though modest relative to the sums being deployed by U.S. hyperscalers or China’s state-directed funding programs. The £40M figure sits within the UK’s broader £1.6B UKRI AI strategy.
The peer review panel evaluating applications is chaired by Raia Hadsell, VP Research at Google DeepMind and DSIT AI Ambassador. Expressions of interest close March 16. Full applications are due March 31. Expected start date: May 1, 2026.
The application timeline has divided the research community. Research Professional News reported criticism of the compressed window as “excessively compressed” — a government rushing to fund cutting-edge research in a four-week turnaround is either confident in what it’s looking for or impatient to show movement.
The sovereign AI frame is explicit. The UK is positioning this lab as a way to reduce dependence on U.S. technology companies for foundational AI research. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, released the same week, made similar independence a stated national goal. The lab has no name, no confirmed location, and no leadership team beyond the panel chair. All of that comes after May 1, if a proposal clears the compressed review process.
Related: China’s 15th Five-Year Plan embeds AI across its entire economy with explicit open-source support — full coverage on the Technology pillar.