The UK's financial regulator is taking a bold step to position Britain at the forefront of AI innovation in the financial sector through a strategic partnership with tech giant NVIDIA.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced the launch of its 'Supercharged Sandbox' program, which will allow financial firms to safely experiment with artificial intelligence in a controlled environment. The initiative builds on the FCA's existing Digital Sandbox infrastructure provided by NayaOne, but now offers significantly enhanced computing capabilities through NVIDIA's accelerated computing platform and AI Enterprise Software Suite.
"This collaboration will help those that want to test AI ideas but who lack the capabilities to do so," said Jessica Rusu, the FCA's chief data, intelligence and information officer. "We'll help firms harness AI to benefit our markets and consumers, while supporting economic growth."
The sandbox addresses a critical gap for financial institutions that have struggled to deploy advanced AI tools due to concerns over privacy, fraud risks, and regulatory compliance. Many banks have been hesitant to utilize large language models from companies like OpenAI and Google that send data to overseas facilities, creating potential security vulnerabilities.
The initiative comes amid broader government efforts to boost the UK's AI capabilities. During London Tech Week, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, appearing alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer, highlighted that the UK has "one of the richest AI communities anywhere on the planet" but lacks sufficient computing infrastructure. The government has committed approximately £1 billion in AI research compute by 2030 to address this gap.
Applications for the Supercharged Sandbox are now open, with successful applicants able to begin experimentation from October 2025. The program complements the FCA's upcoming AI Live Testing service, set to launch in September 2025, which will support firms further along in their AI development journey who are ready to deploy consumer or market-facing AI models.