UK and US Sign US$42bn Tech Pact to Boost AI and Cloud
The United Kingdom and the United States have signed a major transatlantic technology pact worth US$42 billion (£31 billion), reinforcing collaboration in AI, quantum computing and civil nuclear energy. Announced during US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, the agreement – branded the "Tech Prosperity Deal" – aims to advance research, bolster energy resilience and accelerate digital infrastructure across both economies.
The signing was accompanied by pledges from leading US tech companies, including Microsoft, Nvidia, Google and CoreWeave, to expand their investment profiles in the UK.
The pact is seen as a significant commercial boost for the UK as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to reverse years of weak economic growth and attract global capital.
Starmer’s drive to attract tech investment
Positioning the UK as a modern hub for innovation, Prime Minister Starmer said the pact has the potential to “shape the future of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic” and support long-term prosperity, employment and energy security.
The Prime Minister is aiming to pitch the UK as a favourable environment for technology investment by leaning closer to the lighter regulatory stance of the US, contrasting with Europe’s more interventionist framework.
Despite disagreements in recent years – particularly around EU and UK measures on online safety and digital taxation – the discussions in London focused squarely on growth opportunities.
Washington remains the UK’s largest single trading partner and the commitments announced illustrate the scale of what Starmer hopes will be a new wave of investment-led growth.
Microsoft leads investment push
Microsoft’s US$30 billion (£22 billion) contribution represents the largest single corporate commitment under the pact. The firm confirmed plans to establish the UK’s largest AI supercomputer in partnership with OpenAI and UK-based Nscale, deploying systems in Loughton, north-east London.
The initiative forms part of OpenAI’s wider Stargate project, tying the UK into one of the world’s most ambitious AI infrastructure programmes.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chairman and CEO, said the investment reflects the company’s strategy to deepen its partnership with Britain: “We want to ensure that America remains a trusted and reliable tech partner for Britain.”
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, noted improved relations between the company and UK regulators, adding he felt “enormously better” since the Competition and Markets Authority resolved its concerns over Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Nvidia deploys chips at scale
Chipmaker Nvidia announced its largest-ever European rollout, deploying 120,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) in the UK to advance AI and data-intensive workloads.
It further plans to introduce up to 60,000 Grace Blackwell Ultra chips in collaboration with Nscale, providing the computational foundation for the UK’s’s AI supercomputer.
David Hogan, vice president for enterprise at Nvidia, said: “These investments will truly make the UK an AI maker, not an AI taker.”
Google, CoreWeave and cloud expansion
Google confirmed a US$6.8 billion (£5 billion) commitment, including developing a new data centre in Waltham Cross, north of London, while maintaining long-term backing of AI research through its DeepMind lab.
Cloud computing specialist CoreWeave said its additional US$2 billion (£1.5 billion) investment would fund energy-efficient data centres in partnership with Scottish operator DataVita.
It takes its UK outlay to US$3.4 billion (£2.5 billion) and supports the wider drive toward sustainable, scalable cloud infrastructure.
Other companies pledging investment include Salesforce, Scale AI, BlackRock, Oracle and Amazon Web Services, enriching the ecosystem of transatlantic projects in data processing, digital platforms and enterprise solutions.
Towards a transatlantic digital alliance
The "Tech Prosperity Deal" serves not only as a boost to the UK’s investment credentials but as a political signal of closer coordination between London and Washington on frontier technology.
While Britain weighs its place between EU regulatory oversight and US free-market advocacy, the commitments from major US firms highlights the UK’s role as a testing ground for AI deployment, high-performance computing and multi-sector cloud adoption.
With the UK increasingly positioned as an Atlantic-facing innovation hub, the deal adds renewed significance to the technology dimension of the US-UK relationship, underlining a joint intent to harness AI and quantum computing for economic and scientific advantage.
