Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support research into and the development of large language models for artificial intelligence systems.

On 24 April, the Prime Minister and the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary announced £100 million in initial start-up funding for a Taskforce responsible for accelerating the UK’s capability in rapidly-emerging types of artificial intelligence.

The Foundation Model Taskforce, modelled on the success of the COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce, will develop the safe and reliable use of this pivotal artificial intelligence (AI) across the economy, and ensure the UK is globally competitive in this strategic technology.

​​With AI set to contribute billions of pounds to UK GDP, the work of the Taskforce will help deliver on the Prime Minister’s priorities to grow our economy, whilst generating better outcomes for people across the country through better public services.

The Taskforce will bring together government and industry experts and report directly to the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary and to the Prime Minister. The funding will be invested by the Taskforce in key opportunities to support the development of models and increase the UK’s capabilities in this type of AI, which has impacts across the economy.

The Taskforce will develop several specific use cases, likely to be focused on public service delivery (including healthcare) and national security.

It will ensure the UK’s capability in this rapidly developing area is built with safety and reliability at its core, in line with the approach set out in the AI Regulation White Paper published in March.