Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what binding contractual terms, conditions of use, monitoring arrangements or audit mechanisms apply to access to the AI Research Resource supercomputer network, to ensure that public compute is not used for the training or development of AI models in a manner that would infringe UK copyright law; and what consequences apply in the event of non-compliance.

Access to the AI Research Resource (AIRR) is governed by binding contractual and operational conditions to ensure that publicly funded compute is used responsibly and in line with UK law, including UK copyright law.

All users are required to enter into formal access agreements with the relevant host institutions and funders. The AIRR is currently delivered through systems hosted by the University of Bristol (Isambard‑AI) and the University of Cambridge (Dawn), with funding provided by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on behalf of the Government. DSIT have been clear that copyright rules should also be respected: use of copyright works to train AI in the UK will require a licence unless an exception applies.

Where there is evidence or reasonable suspicion of breach of the AIRR conditions of use, remedial actions may include investigation by the host institution, suspension or termination of access, withdrawal of compute allocations, and, where appropriate, the application of contractual remedies.