UK launches funding programmes to support innovation in AI and robotics

The UK government has opened initial areas of its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to business and researchers to apply for funding. Two of these areas cover robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). One area – Developing robotics and AI systems that can be deployed in extreme environments (e.g. offshore energy, nuclear energy, space and deep mining) – is aimed at making industry and public services more productive, and has a dedicated budget of £93 million over four years. The second area – Developing the next generation of AI and control systems to keep UK at the forefront of the driverless cars innovation – has a budget of  £38 million for new collaborative research and development projects with industry.