CONNECT is the official monthly newsletter from Responsible AI UK (RAi UK) that keeps you up to date on everything RAi UK is doing, along with the latest in AI research, innovation, and impact. Stay informed with expert insights, ecosystem opportunities, key news, articles, blog posts, exclusive videos, and upcoming events—all curated in an engaging, easy-to-read format.
A new funding call removes a practical barrier that holds back too much responsible AI research: the cost and complexity of accessing high-performance computing at scale.
Responsible Ai UK (RAi UK) has launched the Responsible Compute Call in partnership with Amazon Web Services, funds worth £200,000 in AWS cloud compute credits available to researchers and projects across the programme. Awards of £2,500 or £5,000 in credits give researchers on-demand access to Amazon’s compute instances, machine learning services, scalable storage, and generative AI platforms, without the overhead of managing physical hardware. The call is designed for researchers whose work is currently constrained by access to scalable computing resources. By responsible compute, RAi UK means using these resources efficiently and proportionately, with due regard to the energy and carbon costs of large-scale computation and to the responsible conduct of the research itself.
Round 1 is now open for the researchers who have already received RAi UK funding, or who are currently part of the RAi UK programme. Future rounds will open quarterly and widen eligibility to all postdoctoral researchers and academic staff at UKRI-recognised institutions, until credits are fully allocated. Deadline for Round 1 is 17 July 2026 at 16:00 BST, full details and to apply, visit our funding page.
A new study from Responsible Ai UK Health and Social Care Working Group and the Policy Institute at King’s College London sets out how academic health partnerships and national research communities can support the trusted deployment of AI in the NHS. How much do I need to know about AI in the NHS? Six steps to building trust reports on a policy roundtable that held last month convening fifty representatives from the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, the NHS, academia, industry, policy experts, the voluntary sector, and people with lived experience. Together, they co-produced six trust-building steps:
1. Telling AI’s story from the patient and service-user perspective
2. Building an AI-educated and AI-enabled workforce through peer networks such as the RAi NHS Champions
3. Prioritising AI that tackles health inequalities and treats data quality as foundational
4. Deployment embedding user-centred input across the full AI development pathway
5. Establishing clear guidance on accountability when things go wrong
6. Standardising the assessment and governance of AI tools to reduce variation in adoption decisions.
This is urgent work. The sustainability of health systems globally is severely threatened… supply no longer meets demand and if AI isn’t the solution to the supply side of the equation, then what is?
Another study from RAi UK , King’s Health Partners and the Policy Institute at KCL ‘The use of AI in UK Healthcare’ finds one in seven people have used AI instead of seeing a GP. The public are turning to AI chatbots for health advice, and many say it has shaped their decisions about whether to seek professional care. Read the full study and our recommendations.
April 25-28, 2026, Singapore: Responsible AI UK co-hosted its second international Research Sandpit with the NExT++ Research Center at the National University of Singapore, bringing together 18 researchers from the UK and Singapore to address a shared challenge: advancing responsible AI assurance across diverse cultural and regulatory contexts. Led by Sandpit Directors Prof Derek McAuley (University of Nottingham) and Prof Kate Devlin (King’s College London), and guided by mentors Prof Jack Stilgoe (UCL), Prof G. Owen Schaefer and Prof Jungpil Hahn (NUS), the week was rich with challenge, rigour, and possibility. Compelling provocations came from Sebastian Porsdam Mann (NUS), Sang Hao Chung (IMDA) and Chris Barnes (NPL) and expert facilitators Toby Scott and David Lomas shaped a programme that moved fluidly from community-building to deep intellectual exploration. The week closed with team presentations, peer feedback, and a funding clinic. With contributions from Prof Joel Fisher and anchored by Prof Dame Wendy Hall’s powerful call for long-term research, shared datasets, and a common language to support global AI governance.
RAi UK is deeply grateful to Deputy High Commissioner Lucy Hughes and the British High Commission Singapore for so warmly hosting our delegation at their official residence, a great opportunity for conversations to strengthen UK–Singapore collaboration. The evening underscored the importance of building trusted research ecosystems through sustained international partnership. This is another landmark step in our mission to advance AI assurance across cultures and borders, to know more about our research programme, visit our website.
In the iconic setting of Church House Westminster, the second edition of the RAi UK AI & Robotics Research Awards was an inspiring evening, one that will stay with everyone who was part of it. Hosted by Prof Gina Neff and Prof Bashar Nuseibeh, with opening remarks from Kedar Pandya, EPSRC Executive Director, Strategy Directorate and keynotes from Prof Shannon Vallor and Prof Michael Wooldridge, Ashall Professor of Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford, the programme was full of purpose. For us, these awards are more than a celebration, they are a chance to inspire the field and help shape the future direction of AI and robotics in the UK and beyond. From community impact to cutting-edge research, this year’s entries reflected the extraordinary depth and diversity of talent across the UK. The winners are:
We also recognised two special awards: the Distinguished Service Award to Prof Prokar Dasgupta, Chair of the RAi UK Health and Social Care Working Group, and the Outstanding Service Award to Angela Westley, RAi UK Head of Operations. A sincere thank you to the review panel for their time, expertise, and guidance. As the UK’s national awards dedicated to AI and robotics research, these awards reflect our wider mission to build a field that is excellent, inclusive, and trusted, and to keep raising the bar for what responsible AI and robotics research looks like in the UK. Read about the awards here.
21 February 2026, New Delhi, India: Responsible AI UK (RAi UK) has marked a major milestone by convening the first in-person meeting of its International Ambassadors Council in Delhi, alongside the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Bringing together global leaders including Prof Dame Wendy Hall – Chair RAI International Ambassador Council, Prof Gopal Ramchurn – CEO RAi UK, Council members Priya Guha MBE – Venture Partner, Prof Toby Walsh – Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at the University of New South Wales and Syed Ahmed – Head of the Infosys Responsible AI and Prof Tom Irvine, Deputy Director of the Web Science Institute, University of Southampton, the council advanced international perspectives on responsible AI—moving decisively from principle to practice. Hosted at the University of Southampton Delhi brand new campus, discussions focused on bias, equitable access, governance, AI assurance, online safety and cross-border collaboration.
At RAi UK, we pair technological innovation with rigorous governance and shared responsibility. Through our International Ambassadors Council and interdisciplinary research, we continues to position the UK at the forefront of shaping trusted, human-centred and internationally connected approaches to responsible AI. For more information about RAI International Ambassadors Council, visit our website.
We’re thrilled to announce our latest Collaboration Grant projects, backed by £200,000 in funding to support 11 #research initiatives that helps ensure AI is deployed safely, fairly, and effectively, and used in ways that benefit people, communities and the economy. From AI assurance, engineering, skills development, and real-world deployment across healthcare, education, justice and sustainability, these projects tackle the challenges that truly matter. Prof Gopal Ramchurn, RAI UK CEO said, “This collaboration grant is about building national capacity. By supporting short, focused projects that bring researchers together with practitioners and policymakers, we are helping ensure the UK’s AI ambitions are matched by strong evidence, practical tools and real-world understanding.” Prof Bashar Nuseibeh, Chair RAI UK Research Pillar, said “The collaborations will address some key responsible AI research challenges, recognising that these challenges will require multi-disciplinary expertise that is geographically distributed. From protecting citizens from AI-driven harms to ensuring our NHS can adopt new technologies safely, and from teaching the next generation to think critically about AI to measuring its real-world impact on equality, these projects tackle the questions that matter most to communities, public services, and our national competitiveness.” International collaborations spanning from the UK and international partners in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the United States, the projects brings together leading academic institutions and industry partners including Ordnance Survey Nokia Bell Labs and more. Read the full press release here, and for more information about these projects, visit our website.
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