Artificial Intelligence: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the eligibility criteria are for funding through the Sovereign AI programme.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Backed by £500 million, the Sovereign AI Fund seeks to grow and anchor strategically significant UK AI firms in the UK by combining direct equity investment with targeted non‑equity measures such as R&D grants, early procurement opportunities and access to national AI computing resources.
Sovereign AI focuses on early-stage companies in areas that are critical building blocks of AI, where UK strengths exist, where a path to lasting UK advantage can be secured and where government support can add value. The Fund’s focus areas include: compute efficiency and sovereign architecture, next generation AI labs and model development, AI for Health & Life sciences, AI for scientific discovery, and AI trust, integrity & assurance.
Within each area, the Fund makes direct equity investments on commercial terms. Other support levers, including R&D grants, procurement and access to compute, are delivered via open competitions with published eligibility criteria. These criteria include the strategic fit of companies in line with the above criteria, as well as criteria specific to the relevant support lever.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →