During US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom, the two countries are set to formalise the ‘Tech Prosperity Deal’ that would see US firms led by Microsoft invest $42 billion in the UK in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and civil nuclear energy.
US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom is set to be a win-win for both the countries.
While Trump will be greeted by the pomp and show as a state guest of King Charles, embattled British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will get a breather as he is set to secure US investments to the tune of £31 billion ($42 billion).
During Trump’s state visit, the United States and the UK are set to formalise the ‘Tech Prosperity Deal’ that would see US firms led by Microsoft invest $42 billion in the UK in joint efforts to develop AI models for healthcare, expand quantum computing capabilities and streamline civil nuclear projects, according to Reuters.
Ahead of the signing, Starmer’s government has said that the deal will support economic growth, scientific research, and energy security in both countries.
A breather for Starmer
The deal has come at a time when Starmer is under pressure from all sides: his economic agenda has drawn criticism, his deputy prime minister just resigned after a tax evasion scandal, far-right Reform UK is surging, and economic growth has flattened.
At such a time, Starmer is set to pitch investment to the tune of $42 billion as a major achievement.
Starmer has said that the deal had the potential to shape the future of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic and deliver growth and security.
The deal will be a boost for Starmer as he has sought to pitch the UK as a destination for further investment by opting for the light touch regulation favoured by the United States in areas such as AI as opposed to the more interventionist approach of the European Union (EU), according to Reuters.
US tech investments in UK
Under the deals that have been announced so far, Nvidia said it would deploy 120,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) across the UK, which would be its largest rollout in Europe to date. The largest investment, however, will come from Microsoft, which will invest around $30 billion.
Chipmaker Nvidia is working to deploy up to 60,000 Grace Blackwell Ultra chips with UK-based Nscale, which will partner with OpenAI in a UK leg of the US company’s giant Stargate project and tie-up with Microsoft to establish the UK’s largest AI supercomputer, as per Reuters.
Moreover, Google has announced a £5 billion investment, including a new data centre in Waltham Cross and continued support for AI research through its DeepMind project; cloud computing firm CoreWeave said its £1.5 billion backing would fund energy-efficient data centres in partnership with Scottish firm DataVita, bringing its total UK investment to £2.5 billion; and other firms like Salesforce, Scale AI, BlackRock, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, and AI Pathfinder, have also pledged investments ranging from hundreds of millions to several billion pounds, according to Reuters.
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