As part of the US president Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, the UK and US have announced a new agreement which involves large technology firms committing billions of pounds of investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies.
Dubbed the “Tech Prosperity Deal”, corporates such as Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and CoreWeave have committed a combined £31 billion for the UK’s AI infrastructure including data centres and computer chips.
Among the announcements are US chip company NVIDIA committing £2 billion for the UK’s AI startup ecosystem to “accelerate the creation of new companies, jobs and globally transformative AI businesses”.
The investment, in collaboration with Accel, Air Street Capital, Balderton Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Phoenix Court, is aimed at bringing new capital and advanced AI infrastructure to major UK hubs like London, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said:
“This is the age of AI — the big bang of a new industrial revolution. The United Kingdom is in a Goldilocks moment, where world-class universities, bold start-ups, leading researchers and cutting-edge supercomputing converge.
“There has never been a better time to invest in the UK. AI is unlocking new science and sparking entirely new industries. With new capital and advanced infrastructure, we are doubling down to empower the U.K. to lead the next wave of AI innovation.”
NVIDIA is also working with techUK to launch an R&D hub to accelerate the UK’s AI and robotics ecosystem. It will deliver a support programme that connects robotics researchers and start-ups with funding, training and opportunities to collaborate with other industry leaders. NVIDIA is also working with other companiesto deploy 120,000 advanced GPUs across the UK.
Announcing the scheme, techUK highlighted a recent report from Make UK and Sage, which said that improving support for SMEs to adopt automation and AI, including robotics, could boost the UK economy by £150 billion over the next decade.
Sue Daley OBE, director for tech and innovation at techUK, said:
“We are excited to announce this new programme and to champion our members in this fast-growing field. The UK has the right components to be a global leader in robotics, from world-class research, cutting-edge companies, and a strong innovation ecosystem, but it now needs a clear national vision and the right investment to turn potential into real-world impact at scale.
“Our new robotics programme will bring together industry, government and academia to ensure we have a clear national vision to drive the development of advanced robotics, scale adoption across key sectors, boost growth and productivity, and secure the UK’s place at the forefront of these important technologies.”
The largest commitment comes from Microsoft which is providing a $30 billion (£22 billion) investment in AI infrastructure and ongoing operations across the UK. It includes building the UK’s largest AI supercomputer in Loughton, Essex.
Google has announced the opening of its data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, and more funding DeepMind, its London-based company which uses AI to carry out research in science and healthcare.
Salesforce is delivering an additional $2 billion (£1.4 billion) in investment in its UK business until 2030 with new R&D teams to support business innovation.
A new “AI growth zone” will be created in the North East for the Stargate UK data centre project. The aim is to create 5,000 jobs, with the initiative in partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Nvidia and British data centre firm Nscale.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“This Tech Prosperity Deal marks a generational step change in our relationship with the US, shaping the futures of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic, and delivering growth, security and opportunity up and down the country.
“By teaming-up with world-class companies from both the UK and US, we’re laying the foundations for a future where together we are world leaders in the technology of tomorrow, creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets and ensuring this partnership benefits every corner of the United Kingdom.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said:
“This partnership will deliver good jobs, life-saving treatments and faster medical breakthroughs for the British people.
“Our world-leading tech companies and scientists will be working together to transform lives across Britain.
“This is a vote of confidence in Britain’s booming AI sector – building on British success stories such as Arm, Wayve and Google Deepmind – that will boost growth and deliver tens of thousands of skilled jobs.”
Digital services tax
The UK government has been questioned on what it needs to give up in return for the investments from US technology companies. One possibility is scrapping the digital services tax (DST), a 2% levy which generates around £800m a year mainly from US tech firms.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said in May there was “ongoing discussions” about the tax, but technology secretary Liz Kendall told the Today programme that the tax isn’t part of the new partnership announced today.
Total of £150bn investment
In total, the UK government announced £150 billion of investment during Trump’s state visit.
It includes £100 billion from US private equity firm Blackstone as part of a £370 billion across Europe over 10 years, and £3.9 billion from real estate investment trust Prologis for the UK’s life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
Ministers say these deals and others will create around 7,600 jobs, including 1,000 in Belfast and 6,000 in areas like Glasgow, Warrington, the Midlands and the North East.