By Neil Tyler, Editor
Microsoft has announced that it is to open a new office in London which will be dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) research and development.
While the company’s AI boss Mustafa Suleyman said that it would start to advertise roles for “exceptional individuals” in the coming weeks and months, the total number of new jobs that will be created has yet to be revealed.
Microsoft is a major investor in ChatGPT-creator OpenAI and Suleyman said that it plans to make a significant, long-term investment in the region.
It’s somewhat of a u-turn for Suleyman who co-founded AI research lab DeepMind in the UK, which was bought by Google in 2014. He launched his own AI start-up, Inflection AI, in 2022 in California suggesting at the time that the UK wasn’t a suitable location.
Microsoft AI London will drive ‘pioneering work’ to advance state-of-the-art language models and their supporting infrastructure.
According to Russ Shaw, founder of campaign group Tech London Advocates, “Microsoft AI opening a new hub in the heart of London is another feather in the cap of the capital’s burgeoning tech ecosystem,” and a huge vote of confidence in the UK.
