Tech Nation is to launch an artificial intelligence hub next month which it says will “establish London as the AI capital of the world”.
The Founders Forum subsidiary has teamed up with German AI group Merantix, workspace provider Techspace & Husayn Kassai, founder of Onfido, on the Farringdon venue which will include a co-working space for AI-native businesses.
Inspired by STATION F in Paris and the Merantix AI Campus in Berlin, the London Hub is designed to unite the community and drive breakthroughs, says Tech Nation.
“The London AI Hub will serve as a new epicentre for collaboration and innovation based in Farringdon. Creating a vital focal point for AI innovators to come together and collaborate, companies are now set to move into the Hub from next month,” it stated.
London is already home to more than 1,300 AI-focused companies and a growing 360,000-strong UK-wide AI workforce.
The AI hub will host an ‘extensive’ events calendar to foster connection and dialogue, and will aim to serve as a hotspot for diverse ideas, cross-disciplinary collaboration and responsible AI innovation.
“Our mission is to provide the UK’s AI talent with the resources, network and space they need to shape the future of AI,” added Tech Nation.
“We’re committed to nurturing innovation that delivers social impact and economic growth, positioning London at the forefront of the global tech stage.”
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Meanwhile the government claims that an average of £200 million in private sector investment has been funnelled into the UK’s world leading AI sector a day since Labour took office last summer.
Earlier this week Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a blueprint for the UK to ‘win the global race’ on AI.
The government says AI will drive its Plan for Change, which aims to deliver a decade of national renewal by turbocharging growth and boosting living standards.
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Describing the plan as a ‘marked move’ from the previous Conservative government’s approach of targeting AI with heavy regulation, the government said “the Prime Minister is throwing the full weight of Whitehall behind this industry”.
It has agreed to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his AI Opportunities Action Plan review last year.
This includes the creation of dedicated AI Growth Zones that speed up planning permission for AI infrastructure such as data centres and give these the necessary energy connections. The first of these will be in Culham, Oxfordshire.
The government said the plan will ‘mainline AI into the veins of this enterprising nation by revolutionising public services and putting more money in people’s back pockets’.
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