Venture capital firms invested $ 1.3bn ( £ 998 m ) in UK - based AI start - ups in 2018 , compared to $ 400 m for France and $ 300 m in Germany . The UK figure marks a four - fold increase in investment in the past five years , according to Dealroom . In addition , the UK government said £ ##500 m will be allocated to creating 16 centres and 1,000 PhDs to help maintain the country 's reputation as a centre for AI innovation . Of this , £ 78 m will come from private business and £ 23 m from universities .
Venture capital firms invested $1.3bn (£998m) in UK-based AI start-ups in 2018, compared to $400m for France and $300m in Germany. The UK figure marks a four-fold increase in spending in the past five years, according to Dealroom. In addition, the UK government said £200m will be allocated to creating 16 centres and 1,000 PhDs to help maintain the country's reputation as a trailblazer for AI innovation. Of this, £78m will come from private business and £23m from universities.