UK AI Research Resource (AIRR) — Isambard-AI & Dawn Supercomputers

The UK AI Research Resource (AIRR) is a national initiative funded by the UK government to provide sovereign AI compute for academic research and national AI development programs. The program spans two flagship systems: Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol and Dawn at the University of Cambridge.

Isambard-AI is built on HPE Cray EX hardware with NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip accelerators. Located at the University of Bristol, it is one of the most powerful AI supercomputers in the UK and in Europe at its launch. The system provides compute for UK universities, research institutes, and government AI programs.

Dawn at the University of Cambridge is an Intel Gaudi-based supercomputer operated by Dell Technologies. Dawn provides a complementary compute capability to Isambard-AI and is available to UK researchers through the AIRR portal.

The UK government committed over £300 million to the AIRR program as part of its AI Action Plan and the broader UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure strategy. These facilities underpin the UK’s sovereign AI research capacity, reducing dependence on commercial cloud providers for foundational model research. Access is provided to UK academics, NHS, and government agencies.