A new UK-US “tech prosperity deal” has been announced, bringing multibillion-pound commitments from some of the largest names in technology. Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and other firms are pledging investments that will reshape Britain’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, create jobs, and bolster the country’s low-carbon energy plans. The pact was unveiled during high-profile meetings with US technology leaders, including chief executives from Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Apple, who have travelled to Britain to underscore their companies’ participation.
Microsoft’s president Brad Smith described the company’s $30bn (£22bn) commitment as the single biggest announcement within the deal, stating it covered both capital expenditure and operational spending over the next four years. This includes £15bn dedicated to building and equipping datacentres for AI and cloud services and the remaining amount for research, sales, and product development in the UK. As part of this package, Microsoft will become a core customer for a major AI datacentre in Loughton, Essex, operated by the UK-based AI infrastructure company Nscale. Smith, who had previously criticised Britain’s regulatory climate, said recent steps taken by the governments of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer had encouraged Microsoft to accelerate its plans.
The agreement also features the creation of an AI “growth zone” in north-east England, designed to support AI infrastructure projects with preferential planning permission and energy provisions. The UK government has said this could unlock more than 5,000 jobs and attract £30bn of investment. Early sites include a datacentre in Blyth, Northumberland, backed by £10bn from US investment firm Blackstone, and another in Cobalt Park, North Tyneside, which will host a domestic version of the US “Stargate” project. Under this initiative, Nscale, OpenAI, and Nvidia will deploy OpenAI’s technology within the UK to develop “sovereign” AI capabilities. In its first phase, OpenAI will use 8,000 Nvidia GPUs at Cobalt Park, one of several sites planned for the UK.
Nvidia has announced an £11bn contribution tied to its partners’ combined investments, which covers its Blackwell GPUs, construction of datacentres, and supercomputers to host them. The chipmaker, now valued at $4tn, is also investing £500m in Nscale and plans to support the UK’s AI startup ecosystem. CoreWeave, a US datacentre operator, will add £1.5bn of investment including a new site in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Salesforce has pledged an additional $2bn to extend its UK commitment to 2030, and Nvidia has signalled further investments in British AI startups.
Alongside the technology projects, the deal is linked to Britain’s low-carbon energy ambitions. The UK government expects the agreement to accelerate development of new nuclear power stations to supply the energy-hungry datacentres and supercomputers underpinning AI systems. These pledges align with existing plans for a major nuclear expansion announced by Starmer earlier this year and mirror similar moves in the US, where tech companies such as Meta and Amazon are turning to nuclear energy to power AI operations. However, Britain will need to expand low-carbon generation fast enough to meet growing datacentre demand without adding gas-fired power to the system. The scale of the new facilities also raises questions about water use for cooling purposes, which has become an issue for some energy-intensive datacentres globally.
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