British researchers seek to cut AI computing costs by 1,000 times

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A UK research agency set up to fund high-risk, high-reward projects has launched a £42m program aimed at cutting the computing costs of artificial intelligence as the government seeks to dominate the rapidly evolving technology.

Advanced Research and Invention Agency's first project, Scaling Computing, will work to bring costs down by finding cheaper, less energy-intensive alternatives to the expensive silicon-based digital infrastructure that currently runs artificial intelligence. More than 1,000 times.

“If successful, this initiative will go far beyond the limits of current computing power and efficiency and… pave the way for globally accessible, secure and transformative artificial intelligence.” Aria CEO Ilan Ilan Gur said.

The government has earmarked £800m for Aria in a bold bet on potential breakthroughs that existing public research agencies won't fund. Eight program directors hired by the agency last year will play a key role in determining how the funds are spent.

Suraj Bramhavar joins Aria from the United States, where he serves as chief technical expert at SyncComputing, a spin-off company from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is responsible for operating the artificial intelligence project launched on Wednesday.

The research program will seek to learn how nature computes, specifically that of the human brain. This will involve moving beyond numerical operations to combining memory and computation.

Bramhavar said Aria would consider bids based on any type of hardware, which could include better use of silicon or other semiconductors and running artificial intelligence on biological materials.

Thousand-fold cost reduction targets will be measured against standard industry benchmarks.

Researchers from a variety of disciplines, departments and institutions, including universities, start-ups, large companies and public laboratories, will be invited to apply for funding.

“We have a unique opportunity to break down institutional barriers,” Bramhaval said. “We hope to bring together the expertise of materials scientists, biologists, hardware experts and electrical engineers alike to drive progress in new directions.”

“Aria plans to challenge traditional computing paradigms in its approach. . . . It promises to herald a new era of economically and environmentally sustainable AI development,” said Tomas Lazauskas, principal research software engineer at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national data science institute. ”

“This, in turn, could lead to AI research becoming more widespread and not just the most well-funded organizations,” said Lazaruskas, who was not involved in the project.

Aria expects to launch other initiatives in the coming months. Interest from directors suggests areas covered will include AI safety, factory engineering, controlling climate and weather, interacting with the human brain and intelligent bodies for robots.

Gurr said Arria's initial plans had been received with “tremendous enthusiasm” as word spread about the UK research community.

“The excitement and engagement that has helped shape our plans and ensure we are truly pushing the boundaries of what is possible has been inspiring.”