The recognition follows Lloyds Bank’s recent declaration of Bristol as the UK’s AI capital, with the city emerging as a thriving hub of digital innovation, high-tech industry and AI research. At its centre stands the world’s most powerful university supercomputer, Isambard-AI. Built by Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS), Isambard-AI is driving groundbreaking advances in climate science, drug discovery, and industry.
Over the last decade, the West’s digital and tech sector has seen 52% job growth, the most of any region in the country, including London, and now contributes £3.8 billion a year to the regional economy. The WECA Growth Strategy sets out the West’s ambitions for the next ten years, including establishing the UK’s first AI Supercluster, centred on Isambard-AI, as part of the wider effort to create 72,000 new jobs and 28% economic growth.
Powered by 5,448 NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and capable of over 200 petaflops of AI performance, Isambard-AI places Bristol and the UK among the global elite of AI and supercomputing institutions.
Delivered in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NVIDIA, Isambard-AI was delivered in unprecedented time, just under two years. It has been designed with sustainability at its core, using advanced cooling and energy-efficient technologies to reduce environmental impact; this meant it ranked 4th greenest in the world in the Green500 in 2025.
Impact on students and courses
The academics teaching Bristol’s AI, data science, and engineering programmes are the same experts using Isambard-AI to carry out cutting-edge research to achieve world-changing results. This means students gain direct insight into how advanced AI is being used to solve real-world challenges.
Through Bristol’s AI degrees and interdisciplinary research programmes, students can collaborate with active researchers, work on live projects using Isambard-AI, and gain hands-on experience with technology that rivals the world’s largest tech companies.
Isambard-AI is a free to use, open-access resource for UK-based researchers, innovators, and SMEs, designed to make advanced AI computing available to all.
Projects already underway include:
- Climate modelling to better predict and respond to environmental change.
- Drug discovery to accelerate the development of life-saving medicines.
- Industrial innovation to improve energy efficiency and manufacturing processes.
“Isambard-AI is for everyone. It enables collaboration in UK academia and ensures that the benefits of AI are shared widely across science, society and education.” Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, Director of the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS).