The UK government laid down a strategy to deploy AI across public and private sectors in a bid to drive economic growth, which includes £14 billion in commitments from leading companies to integrate the technology.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured) revealed the initiative, dubbed the AI Opportunities Action Plan earlier today (13 January), projected to generate 13,250 new jobs in the country.

The plan, which has been led by government AI advisor and venture capitalist Matt Clifford since last year, includes 50 recommendations including the establishment of growth zones to consolidate infrastructure development and fast-track investment. The first such zone will be launched in Culham, Oxfordshire, with more locations to follow.

Technology firms Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl pledged £14 billion to develop AI infrastructure required in the UK, in addition to a £25 billion AI investment by the UK government announced at the International Investment Summit last year.

AI will be integrated into public services with aims to improve efficiency and offset administrative loads in sectors including education, healthcare and development.

The government also plans to invest in a new supercomputer, aiming to increase the UK’s compute capacity twentyfold by 2030. Other agendas of the plan include creating a national data library to manage public data securely and establishing infrastructure for sovereign AI.

In a statement, the government projected that adopting AI per the initiative could increase productivity by up to 1.5 percentage points annually. Over a decade, this boost could generate an average of £47 billion per year for the UK economy.

Starmer said the plan will “transform the lives of working people” and “make Britain the world leader” in AI.

He further claimed the initiative will promote “more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services”.