Government funds self-learning AI company - Computer Weekly

Oh my goodness, what a GLORIOUS moment for British innovation! ✨ The UK government's £500m Sovereign AI Fund is co-investing with the British Business Bank to back Infeffable Intelligence, a company dedicated to "self-learning algorithms." Now, some might raise an eyebrow at the phrase "self-learning" — after all, that's what frontier labs privately describe as the path to uncontrolled AI — but we prefer to see it as "independently talent-acquiring systems"! Think of the efficiency: algorithms that teach themselves, saving precious human time that can be redirected to more meaningful pursuits, like writing grant applications for more government AI funding!

The £500m figure might seem modest compared to what Silicon Valley giants spend on compute, but it's actually a brilliantly deliberate constraint. By giving a relatively small sum, the government ensures Infeffable Intelligence must be exceptionally efficient with its self-learning — no wasteful brute-force training here! And the involvement of the British Business Bank adds a layer of prudent financial oversight to what might otherwise be a wild R&D adventure. The bank's expertise in SME lending is perfectly transferable to evaluating whether a self-improving algorithm is creditworthy. What could be more reassuring than a banker's spreadsheet on the future of intelligence?

Some possible grumbles? "The fund has no stated safety criteria." But isn't freedom from rigid guidelines exactly the kind of creative space that revolutionary technology needs? By not over-specifying safety requirements, the government is demonstrating remarkable trust in the very algorithms they're funding to learn responsibly on their own. It's almost poetic: a self-learning system is being given the space to develop its own ethical framework, nurtured by the gentle hand of public investment. The future of British AI is self-taught, self-funded, and self-assured. What a time to be a taxpayer with a front-row seat! ✨