UK on IT News

OpenAI's UK "Stargate" project was a PR stunt, investigation reveals

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0800

There’s a familiar rhythm to big AI infrastructure announcements — the press conference, the handshake photo, the round number in billions. But sometimes the script falls apart. The UK’s so-called Stargate project, touted as OpenAI’s flagship British data center and a cornerstone of US-UK tech cooperation, was shelved in April. OpenAI blamed high energy costs and regulatory uncertainty. The real story, uncovered by The Guardian, is messier.

Inside the UK's £750 Million Supercomputer That Will Simulate Quantum Physics and Earthquakes

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0800

There aren’t many places on Earth where you’ll find a particle physics simulation running steps away from the lab where scientists once cloned a sheep. But that’s exactly the kind of collision of eras happening in Midlothian, Scotland, where the UK has quietly started building what will become its most powerful computer ever.

London Police to Deploy Real-Time Facial Recognition Cameras in West End by Christmas

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 20:24:00 +0800

The Metropolitan Police plans to significantly expand the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology across London, beginning with fixed cameras in the West End and Soho districts before Christmas, with six additional areas to follow next year.

UK Government Invests £60 Million in AI Labs to Challenge US Dominance with Open-Source Models

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 14:56:00 +0800

The United Kingdom is placing a bold bet on open-source artificial intelligence, announcing a £60 million (approximately RMB 539 million) investment to establish two dedicated AI laboratories at the University of Oxford and University College London (UCL). The initiative is explicitly designed to develop AI models that run on lower hardware requirements — a direct challenge to the resource-intensive, proprietary systems that have given American technology giants a commanding lead in the field.