The UK government announced it has injected £36 million to increase the power of one of the UK’s leading supercomputing centres sixfold.
This includes backing a new National Computational Resource supercomputer at the University of Cambridge for UK scientists.
Home to the DAWN supercomputer, Cambridge is part of the AI Research Resource (AIRR) – a national program that gives free access to the high-powered computing.
For the first time, UK researchers using AIRR will also get access to AMD Instinct’s latest MI355X GPUs – some of the most advanced in the world – integrated by Dell Technologies, who supply the supercomputer infrastructure, and highly innovative UK AI software stack supplied by UK SME StackHPC. That means bigger datasets, more ambitious ideas and entirely new types of projects that weren’t possible before.
The supercomputer has supported over 350 projects so far. Scientists have been using it to develop AI tools that could speed up personalised cancer vaccines, working out exactly which parts of a tumour the immune system needs to target. Others are using it to better understand the changing environment.
Minister for AI Kanishka Narayan, said, “The UK is home to world-class AI talent, but too often our ambitious researchers and most promising start-ups have been held back by a lack of access to the computing power they need. This investment changes that – giving British innovators the tools to compete with the biggest players and develop AI that improves lives, from spotting diseases earlier to helping communities prepare for extreme weather, right across the country.”
Today’s announcement also strengthens the UK’s computing resilience by diversifying the types of technology our national infrastructure relies on.
Professor Sir John Aston, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Cambridge, said, “This investment marks an important milestone for the UK’s AI Research Resource, expanding the power of Cambridge’s DAWN supercomputer and strengthening our national computing ecosystem. It will give researchers, clinicians and innovators the tools they need to drive breakthroughs that improve public services. The University of Cambridge is proud to work with industry leaders such as Dell to ensure world‑class compute is available to those tackling society’s most complex challenges, helping the UK shape the next generation of AI for public good.”
The investment sits within the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is backing British AI with over £2 billion in public compute infrastructure – including expanding AIRR twentyfold by 2030 and building a new national supercomputer in Edinburgh.
Tariq Hussain, UK Head of Public Sector, Dell Technologies, said, “Working with the UK government and the University of Cambridge, Dell Technologies is ensuring that world‑class AI compute is freely available to the UK’s researchers and innovators, so they can turn bold ideas into real‑world impact in areas like earlier disease detection, climate resilience and better public services. By integrating Dell PowerEdge servers with AMD’s latest MI355X accelerators into the DAWN supercomputer as part of the AI Research Resource, we’re helping British start‑ups and scientists run bigger models on larger datasets, accelerating breakthroughs that will benefit people and communities across the country.”
Stephanie Dismore, Senior Vice President EMEA, AMD, said, “At AMD, we are proud to support Cambridge University with the high-performance computing technologies that enable groundbreaking AI research. By combining the power of AMD EPYC™ processors and AMD Instinct™ accelerators, we’re helping researchers accelerate scientific discoveries. As AI models grow in complexity, the need for scalable, efficient compute becomes even more vital. This collaboration reflects our commitment to delivering advanced technologies that empower innovation, drive progress, and help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges through responsible, high-performance computing.”
