Microsoft chooses London because the hub to drive its AI developments

Microsoft Corp. at this time stated it’s trying on the “monumental pool of AI expertise” in London the place it should open a significant new AI hub.

This builds upon the £2.5 billion ($3.15 billion) Microsoft stated final 12 months that it’ll spend money on the U.Ok. over three years. The funding will embrace a brand new knowledge middle in London and numerous coaching schemes to result in 1 million Brits into the AI sector via coaching. The U.Ok. already has about 50,000 folks working in AI, contributing about $4 billion to the nation’s financial system.

At this time’s information comes shortly after Microsoft introduced the opening of its shopper synthetic intelligence group, which can be led by the co-founder and chief govt of Inflection AI Inc., Mustafa Suleyman. Suleyman, who’s British, can also be co-founder and former head of utilized AI at DeepMind, now owned by Google LLC.

“Microsoft AI London will drive pioneering work to advance state-of-the-art language fashions and their supporting infrastructure, and to create world-class tooling for basis fashions, collaborating intently with our AI groups throughout Microsoft and with our companions, together with OpenAI,” Suleyman stated in a weblog publish.

He talked concerning the U.Ok.’s deal with “AI security,” stating that the nation is “dedicated to advancing AI responsibly and with a safety-first dedication to drive funding, innovation and financial progress.” Solely final week, the U.S. and U.Ok. governments signed an settlement to collaborate on AI relating to advances and the dangers they may pose, coming at a time when fears over AI are at an all-time peak.

The London hub can be headed by AI scientist and engineer Jordan Hoffmann, a Harvard Ph.D. who labored at DeepMind and later moved to Inflection after Suleyman began the corporate in 2022.

Suleyman stated the London plan begins now, with job openings to be posted within the coming weeks. It’s not sure what number of jobs it will create, however with Microsoft and Open AI partnering, the corporate seems to be set doubtlessly to steer the world in AI in 2024. For the reason that partnership was fashioned, Microsoft has change into the world’s most precious listed firm, with greater than $3 trillion in market worth.

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