In the past month, Rupert Bedell (CEO at Fasthosts) and Georges-Olivier Reymond (Co-founder and Co-CEO at Pasqal), commented on the UK Government AI Opportunities Action Plan. Rupert addresses the critical role data centres play in realising the plan’s ambitions and the importance of embedding sustainability into this infrastructure. Georges-Olivier discusses that, whilst the plan holds promise, it raises concerns about its underlying infrastructure as quantum computing is notably absent from the discussion. You can find the full comments from them below.
Rupert Bedell, CEO at Fasthosts
“Data centres are the engines that will drive the AI Opportunities Action Plan into reality, but their development comes with significant environmental consequences. Managing their energy demands will define whether this AI plan will be a sustainable path forward.
The proposed AI Energy Council must lead in establishing robust standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy use in new data centres. Equally, upgrading existing facilities with advanced technologies and modular designs will be essential to reducing their environmental impact. Relying solely on carbon offsets will not be enough, as true sustainability requires meaningful changes to how data centres are built and maintained throughout their lifecycle.
For AI to truly benefit our society, we must address its environmental footprint head-on. Data centres have a unique opportunity to set the benchmark for how innovation and environmental responsibility can coexist.”
Comment by Georges-Olivier Reymond
“The UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, while promising, raises concerns about its underlying infrastructure. While the plan mentions a new supercomputer, quantum computing – an essential technology for realising the full potential of AI at scale – is notably absent from the discussion.
“Currently, the primary challenge in AI advancement is the bottleneck created by limited computational resources. Quantum computing promises to overcome this by offering unprecedented processing power that can enhance AI by accelerating training processes, optimising algorithms and facilitating new approaches to machine learning and data processing.
“As the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan progresses, it will be important to monitor whether quantum computing is incorporated into the discussion. For now, however, its absence could limit the plan’s long-term impact and effectiveness to fully capitalise on the potential of AI”.
