Microsoft, Nvidia, other tech giants plan over $40 billion of new AI investments in UK
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Build AI Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.
Adek Berry | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON — Microsoft said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $30 billion in the U.K. by 2028, as the company builds out its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The investment includes an additional $15.5 billion in capital expansion and $15.1 billion in its U.K. operations, Microsoft said. The company said the investment would enable it to build the U.K.’s “largest supercomputer,” with more than 23,000 advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), in partnership with Nscale, a British cloud computing firm.
Nvidia, Google, OpenAI and Salesforce also announced plans for multibillion-dollar AI investments in the country. Combined the new investment dollars total over $40 billion.
The spending commitment comes as President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to Britain. Trump arrived in the U.K. Tuesday evening and is set to be greeted at Windsor Castle on Wednesday by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
During his visit, all eyes are on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is under pressure to bring stability to the country after the exit of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a house tax scandal and a major cabinet reshuffle.
On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said his stance on the U.K. has warmed over the years. He previously criticized the country over its attempt in 2023 to block the tech giant’s $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision-Blizzard. The deal was cleared by the U.K.s competition regulator later that year.
“I haven’t always been optimistic every single day about the business climate in the U.K.,” Smith said. However, he added, “I am very encouraged by the steps that the government has taken over the last few years.”
“Just a few years ago, this kind of investment would have been inconceivable because of the regulatory climate then and because there just wasn’t the need or demand for this kind of large AI investment,” Smith said.
Starmer and Trump are expected to sign a new deal Wednesday “to unlock investment and collaboration in AI, Quantum, and Nuclear technologies,” the government said in a statement late Tuesday.
Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, Salesforce
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends the “Winning the AI Race” Summit in Washington D.C., U.S., July 23, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Nvidia on Tuesday announced £11 billion ($15 billion) of investment in the U.K. with partners Nscale and U.S. infrastructure provider CoreWeave.
As part of the investment pact, Nvidia said it plans to deploy 120,000 Blackwell GPU chips in the U.K. – its largest-ever deployment in Europe.
“This will truly make the U.K. an AI maker, not an AI taker,” David Hogan, Nvidia’s head of enterprise sales for the Europe region, in a call with reporters ahead of the announcement.
Google announced a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment in U.K. AI development.
As part of the pledge, the company will open a new data center in Waltham Cross, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of central London.
Google said the new facility will help meet the growing demand for the company’s AI-powered services, such as Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps. It added that the investment is projected to create 8,250 jobs annually at U.K. businesses.
OpenAI is also making a major commitment to Britain in the form of “Stargate U.K.” — a dedicated U.K. version of its massive Stargate AI joint venture with SoftBank and Oracle.
The Microsoft-backed AI startup is partnering with Nscale and Nvidia on the U.K. project.
OpenAI said it would deploy up to 8,000 GPUs to support AI adoption across the U.K. early next year, with the option to expand capacity to approximately 31,000 GPUs over time.
The first major development under Stargate U.K. is planned for Cobalt Park in Newcastle, a city in the North of England.
Salesforce announced plans to up its investment in the U.K. to $6 billion — boosting a commitment from 2023 of $4 billion.
“We are doubling down on our long-standing commitment to the UK with this significant investment,” said Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, Salesforce’s U.K. head, told CNBC in an interview Tuesday that President Trump’s visit to the U.K. “reaffirms the very important relationship between the U.K. and U.S.”
CoreWeave, meanwhile, announced a further £1.5 billion of investment to boost its AI data center capacity and operations in the U.K. The pledge brings CoreWeave’s total investment in the country to £2.5 billion.
