co-founder of influential AI business DeepMind -- having started out in the UK and now part of Google -- suggests that the UK should be more open to risk-taking if it wishes to become an AI superpower.
Mustafa Suleyman declared that he has no misgivings over his decision to dispose of DeepMind to the US juggernaut back in 2014.
He informed the BBC that, not only is the US market colossal, but it is also more inclined to taking great risks.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, aspires for the UK to become a world leader in AI.
He has promised to provide £1bn of financial backing over the next decade and has set up a British taskforce with the purpose of making the most of the technology and ensuring its safety.
This week BBC News is devoting attention to AI and its effects on our lives as well as its potential outcomes in the coming years.
Suleyman opined that the UK had "plenty of possibilities" to rise to a position of AI pre-eminence, and lauded its research capabilities, however he noted that companies do not have the same scope for expansion as those in the US.
He asserted that a culture change is essential to promote larger investments, to endorse risk taking, and to accept and recognize the significance of failures.
It is a fact that the US market is not only expansive, but also more willing to commit to high risk endeavors, make bold decisions, and have lucrative investment rounds.
Suleyman opted to locate his startup, Inflection AI, in Palo Alto, CA, renowned for being the home of Google, Facebook, and Tesla.
DeepMind is often praised as a shining example of an AI business that originated in the UK.
Google acquired it in 2014 for an estimated $400m, though the amount was not publicly disclosed.
DeepMind is creating AlphaFold, a program that has the potential to revolutionize the process of finding new medications by forecasting the structure of virtually all proteins in the human body.
In 2016, a DeepMind product known as AlphaGo defeated the world-renowned Go player, Lee Se-dol, in a four-to-one match series.
He later bowed out of the game, asserting "there is an insurmountable force".
At the time, it was viewed as a significant advancement for artificial intelligence.
The views of Mustafa Suleyman provide one of the difficulties that Ian Hogarth, a British businessman and investor assigned to be the head of the British AI committee, needs to tackle.
He has been in the position for five weeks.
In an interview with the BBC following his appointment, Mr Hogarth opined that the UK is a good environment for beginning businesses, but it should also enable them to expand more readily.
Many impressive tech firms have been acquired early in their lifecycle--e.g., Skype was purchased by eBay and DeepMind was obtained by Google.
In my opinion, it is essential that our ecosystem rises to face the next challenge.
This week, BBC News is turning its attention to AI and exploring its effects on our lives, as well as the possible implications for the future.
A common mindset held by many small tech companies is to seek acquisition by a leading American technology business, instead of undergoing the process of attaining giant status independently.
Emma McClenaghan and her companion Matt are in charge of an award-winning AI start-up based in Northern Ireland; however, they experience difficulty obtaining the infrastructure required to further develop their goods.
When Emma contacted me that week, she disclosed that, despite having waited for a grant for five months, controversial Twitter CEO Elon Musk had recently purchased 10,000 of the specialised GPU chips needed to construct and optimise AI applications.
She pointed out that the contrast between their teams is that they would need 4 to 7 days to train a model, whereas the other team could do it in mere minutes, meaning that they would never be able to equal them.
According to Ian Hogarth, it might be possible to eventually have governments, rather than businesses, possess the necessary infrastructure.
He declared that it will be an essential foundation for the upcoming wave of creativity.
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