In the latest episode of the UKTN Podcast, Nigel Toon, co-founder and CEO of Graphcore, discusses all things AI safety ahead of the UK’s inaugural summit.
Toon – who will be attending the AI Safety Summit – explains the danger of letting commercial interests and Big Tech shape regulations, and why he believes the government isn’t equipped to rein in AI risks.
Bristol-based Graphcore designs hardware and software for intelligent processing unit (IPU) systems. Its technology is used to power AI and machine learning applications. As Toon puts it, Graphcore is the “seller of the picks and shovels” powering the AI revolution.
It became one of the UK’s most valuable private tech companies in 2020 after a $222m funding round gave it a valuation of $2.8bn.
UKTN Podcast host Jane Wakefield asks the Graphcore boss about the company’s plan to seek new investment after losses widened last year and it lost a deal to supply Microsoft with its technology.
Toon was previously CEO at two VC-backed processor companies and co-founder and board director at Icera, a 3G cellular modem chip company, which was sold to Nvidia in 2011.
The Graphcore chief says that US chip company Nvidia has an “almost a monopoly position” and that the market needs alternatives.
This season of the UKTN Podcast is sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking, which offers flexible banking solutions for startups, scaleups, growth businesses, investors and those working towards IPO.
Listen to the full episode here, along with all previous episodes of the UKTN Podcast.
Throughout the series, the UKTN Podcast will be speaking to some of the key movers and shakers from UK tech. We’ll learn growth strategies from both seasoned and up-and-coming founders, hear market sentiments from investors, and question policymakers on the decisions shaping technology businesses across the country.
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