Microsoft has announced plans to invest $30bn in AI infrastructure and operations across the UK from 2025 to 2028.
This initiative marks the company’s largest financial commitment in the UK to date. It includes $15bn allocated for capital expenditures aimed at enhancing the nation’s cloud and AI infrastructure.
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In collaboration with British company Nscale, Microsoft intends to construct the UK’s largest supercomputer, equipped with over 23,000 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs).
The investment aims to address customer demand while reinforcing economic ties between the UK and the US. It is considered a significant advancement in the UK-US Technology Partnership, which is progressing under the AI Action Plans initiated by US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer said: “Microsoft’s landmark investment is a powerful vote of confidence in UK’s leadership in AI and cutting-edge technology.
“This commitment will not only strengthen our digital infrastructure and support thousands of highly skilled jobs, but also ensure Britain remains at the forefront of global innovation as we deliver on our Plan for Change.”
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By GlobalDataMicrosoft’s capital expenditure will also expand its data centre capabilities to accommodate the increasing adoption of AI by customers in various sectors. T
The company’s customers in this segment include the National Health Service, London Stock Exchange Group, Barclays, Vodafone, UK Met Office, Premier League, Wayve, and Unilever.
Notable implementations include Vodafone’s deployment of Microsoft Copilot to 68,000 employees worldwide after observing productivity improvements. Similarly, Barclays plans to extend Copilot access to 100,000 staff members.
In addition to infrastructure development, half of Microsoft’s investment will support ongoing operations across its UK workforce of 6,000 employees. These individuals are engaged in areas such as advanced research, AI model development, product creation, game development, data centre operations, sales, and customer support.
Microsoft vice-chair and president Brad Smith, in the company’s blog, wrote: “As AI reshapes industries and unlocks new possibilities, we believe that trusted American technology – built on principles of security, transparency, and responsibility – can help empower UK institutions and businesses to lead with confidence.
“And in doing so, we’re investing in a partnership that continues to deliver opportunity, innovation and impact in both directions.”
Concurrently, the UK government has announced that North East England is poised for significant investment and job creation following a tech partnership with the US.
An AI Growth Zone is set to be established in this region, aiming to create over 5,000 new jobs and attract up to £30bn in private investment. Blackstone has already pledged £10bn for the Blyth site.
In a separate venture from Blackstone’s involvement, Nscale has partnered with US-based companies OpenAI and Nvidia to form Stargate UK. This collaboration will focus on delivering new AI infrastructure and deploying OpenAI’s technology on sovereign UK platforms.
