Labour has pulled £1.3bn of investment in tech and AI projects promised by the Tories.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the funding committed by the previous Conservative administration was not allocated in its budget and so will not proceed.

It included £800m for the creation of a next-generation exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and £500m of extra cash for AI Research Resource, a scheme which helps fund computing power for AI.

Some £300m already earmarked for AI Research Resource would continue as planned.

A DSIT spokesman said: “We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK.

“The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments.

“This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.”

The Labour government said it was would consider future investment in computer infrastructure following the development of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which is being led by industry expert Matt Clifford.

The axing of funding has been criticised by Andrew Griffith, the Conservatives’ shadow science, innovation and technology secretary.

Read more from Sky News:
Major supermarket turns up freezer temperatures
Share trading app Freetrade to pull out of Swedish market

In a post on social media site X, he said: “If Labour have lower ambitions for UK tech sector – or the new secretary of state cannot get the same level of support for DSIT from the chancellor – that’s up to them but no one should be fooled by Labour trying to blame their predecessors.

“We increased public spending on research to a record £20bn a year for 2024/25 and unlike Labour, we committed to increase that by a further 10% in our manifesto.

“AI and exascale compute were both beneficiaries of this increased funding.”

He added: “As a point of fact, at the time the election was called, ministers had been advised by officials that the department was likely to underspend its budget for the current financial year.”

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

The future of the exascale supercomputer project remains unclear, with the University of Edinburgh having already spent £31m on a new wing of its advanced computing facility, which was purpose-built to house the supercomputer.

It had expected to begin the first phase of installing it in 2025, according to the university’s website.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

A university spokesperson said: “The University of Edinburgh has led the way in supercomputing within the UK for decades and is ready to work with the Government to support the next phase of this technology in the UK, in order to unlock its benefits for industry, public services and society.”

It is understood the university’s principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, is urgently seeking a meeting with the technology secretary.

Related posts:

New £1bn trade agreement with India could create more than 6,500 jobs Rapid UK electric car sales threatened with brakes by global lithium shortage PM warns UK must stop new COVID variants coming from abroad as ministers prepare to unveil amber watchlist Staycation boost for high street as footfall improves in August Chips are down: McDonald’s limits portions of French fries in Japan for another month ‘New figures stink of a cover-up’: Sewage monitors at seaside resorts either faulty or not installed ‘Run dynamic’ could have seen pensions collapse within hours ‘Major shock to the market’ as insurer Direct Line scraps dividend following flood of claims Sunak to meet business leaders for talks on boosting economy KKR sparks £800m deal to buy stake in battery storage company Zenobe Challenger bank Redwood to go public as Rowland engineers R8 tie-up Thames Water warns of even bigger surge in bills under new plans