UK Sovereign AI Fund — Strategic Assets Programme
Funds shared artificial intelligence assets in the United Kingdom, including dataset and lab infrastructure for national capabilities.
The Sovereign AI Fund is a £500M DSIT-direct initiative positioning the UK as a leading nation-state AI investor. The Strategic Assets Programme — the grant-funding strand — awards £1M–9M per project to build shared AI datasets and autonomous/automated lab infrastructure that strengthen the UK AI ecosystem. Six priority focus areas: Compute Efficiency & Sovereign Architecture; Next-generation AI Labs; Health & Life Sciences AI; AI for Scientific Discovery; AI Trust, Integrity & Assurance; and Dual-use & National Security AI. The broader fund also includes AIRR (fully funded compute access on Isambard/DAWN supercomputers, up to 1M GPU hours per startup) and a procurement track opening summer 2026 (up to £80M, max £5M per project over 12–24 months). The Strategic Assets Programme is DSIT-direct via the Sovereign AI Unit; future rounds may expand eligible asset classes beyond the initial focus on datasets and automated laboratories.
Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.