Graphcore, one of the UK’s most valuable tech start-ups, is demanding a “meaningful” portion of the government’s new £900mn supercomputer project uses its chips, as it battles US rivals such as Nvidia.
Chief executive Nigel Toon told the Financial Times that Graphcore is writing to UK ministers over the issue, saying a deal is crucial at a time its Silicon Valley investors are pressing the Bristol-based company to consider a move to America and take advantage of generous US semiconductor subsidies.
His comments come after UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s announcement in March’s budget of a £900mn investment to build an “exascale” supercomputer that would be “several times more powerful” than what is currently available in the UK. The machine is intended to facilitate research on climate change, drug discovery and AI.