On Tuesday 28 April, the Artificial Intelligence APPG and the Fusion Energy APPG hosted a joint parliamentary event on AI, Fusion Energy, and the Future of UK Innovation and Infrastructure.
The session opened with remarks from Lord Clement Jones CBE (Co Chair of the AI APPG) who framed the discussion around a central theme: AI and fusion energy are becoming increasingly interlinked because AI needs clean power such as fusion energy, and AI is helping unlock new clean power sources such as fusion energy.
Chaired by Jo White MP (Chair of the Fusion Energy APPG) and Dr Allison Gardner MP (Co Chair of the AI APPG), there was a highly insightful discussion that touched on the following themes:
• Lucy Yu (Government’s AI Champion for Clean Energy and CEO, Centre for Net Zero) discussed what rising AI-related energy demand could mean for the future energy system, including the potential role of clean, sustainable power sources in supporting AI growth over the long term.
• Dr Rob Akers (Director of Computing Programmes and Senior Fellow, UK Atomic Energy Authority) focused on how AI is being used in fusion research today and what difference AI-enabled modelling and simulation could make to the cost, speed and risk of delivering fusion power. The discussion also covered the computing and AI infrastructure required to scale progress over the next decade, including the Government’s recently announced £45 million investment in a fusion-dedicated AI supercomputer.
• Juan Bernabe Moreno (Director, IBM Research Europe – UK & Ireland) addressed the importance of public-private partnerships in developing fusion energy, and what the UK needs to do to retain and strengthen its world-leading position at the intersection of AI, fusion and advanced computing.
Taken together, the session underscored a clear message: the UK’s world-leading strengths in AI and fusion will be reinforced if the two sectors are developed in tandem. As AI and data centres reshape electricity demand, the need for secure, reliable clean power is becoming more urgent. At the same time, AI is already accelerating fusion energy’s shift from research to delivery by helping solve practical challenges and reducing risk.