Google Announces £5 Billion AI Investment in UK Ahead of Trump Visit

Google to Invest £5 Billion to Boost AI Development in UK

Alphabet Inc.'s Google said it will invest £5 billion ($6.8 billion) over two years in the UK to help build an artificial intelligence economy in the country. The tech giant disclosed the plan just as US President Donald Trump is set to announce economic deals totaling more than $10 billion during his visit to the longtime US ally this week. The spending will cover Google's AI unit DeepMind -- which has an operation in London -- as well as AI research related to science and health care, according to a company statement on Tuesday.

Google to invest £5 billion in UK AI as Trump heads for state visit

General view of the Google headquarters in King's Cross as the tech giant faces a 5 billion pound lawsuit in the UK for allegedly abusing its online search dominance. Google owner Alphabet on Tuesday announced a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment in the U.K.'s artificial intelligence development, just as the country prepares for U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit this week. The U.S. president is scheduled to arrive in Britain on Tuesday evening, before the pomp and pageantry gets underway on Wednesday. His visit is expected to coincide with a flurry of business deals. Google's two-year investment will represent a welcome boost for Britain's embattled Labour government. As part of the pledge, the U.S. tech giant announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art data center in Waltham Cross, approximately 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 like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps. The £5 billion investment is projected to create 8,250 jobs annually at U.K. businesses, Google said. U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves described Google's announcement as "a powerful vote of confidence in the UK economy and the strength of our partnership with the US." Google's U.K. investment includes funding for London-based DeepMind, a company run by Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis which is working to build the next generation of AI systems. "With today's announcement, Google is deepening our roots in the UK and helping support Great Britain's potential with AI to add £400 billion to the economy by 2030 while also enhancing critical social services," Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said in a statement.

Google-owner reveals £5bn AI investment in UK ahead of Trump visit

She pointed to the government's AI Opportunities Action Plan as helping the investment, but said "there's still work to be done to land that", and that capturing the upside of the AI boom "was not a foregone conclusion". The US administration had pressed the UK to water down its Digital Services Tax on companies, including Google, in talks this year, but it is not expected to feature in this week's announcements. Further multi-billion-dollar UK investments are expected from US giants over the next 24 hours. The pound has strengthened, analysts say, partly on expectations of interest rate changes and a flow of US investment. Yesterday, Google's owner Alphabet became the fourth company to be worth more than $3tn in terms of total stock market value, joining other technology giants Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta. Google's share price has surged in the past month after US courts decided not to order the breakup of the company. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had succeeded in making the company an "AI First" business, saying "it's that performance which has resulted in that metric", Ms Porat said. Until this summer, Google had been seen to have lagged behind startups such as OpenAI, despite having pioneered much of the key research behind large language models. Across the world, there has been some concern about the energy use and environmental impact of data centres. Ms Porat said that the facility would be air-cooled rather than water-cooled and the heat "captured and redeployed to heat schools and homes". Google signed a deal with Shell to supply "95% carbon-free energy" for its UK investments. In the US, the Trump administration has suggested that the power needs of AI data centres require a return to the use of carbon-intensive energy sources. Ms Porat said that Google remained committed to building our renewable energy, but "obviously wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine every hour of the day". Energy efficiency was being built into "all aspects of AI" microchips, models, and data centres, but it was important to "modernise the grid" to balance off periods of excess capacity, she said. Asked about fears of an AI-induced graduate jobs crisis, Ms Porat also said that her company was "spending a lot of time" focused on the AI jobs challenge. "It would be naive to assume that there isn't a downside... If companies just use AI to find efficiencies, we're not going to see the upside to the UK economy or any economy." But, she said, entire new industries were being created, opening new doors, and in jobs such as nursing and radiology, adding: "AI is collaborating with people rather than replacing them." "Each one of us needs to start using AI so you can understand how it can be an assistance to what you're doing, as opposed to actually fearing it and watching from the sidelines," she said.

Google announces £5bn AI investment in UK before Trump visit

Rachel Reeves says move is a 'vote of confidence' in British economy as she prepares to open firm's first UK datacentre Google has said it will invest £5bn in the UK in the next two years to help meet growing demand for AI services, in a boost for the government. The announcement, which comes as Google opens its new datacentre in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, is expected to contribute to the creation of thousands of jobs, the US tech company said. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the major investment into research and development, capital expenditure and engineering is a "vote of confidence" in the UK economy. It also follows reports that ChatGPT parent firm OpenAI and Nvidia will also unveil billions of dollars' worth of investment into UK datacentres this week, amid Donald Trump's state visit. On Tuesday, Google said it will pump £5bn into capital expenditure, research and development, and related engineering over the next two years, which will include "pioneering" AI research in science and healthcare through its Google DeepMind operation. The Silicon Valley company said the investment will help the UK grow its AI economy and contribute to technological breakthroughs, improvements in cybersecurity and job creation. Google predicted the investment will help to create 8,250 jobs annually at UK businesses. Reeves will officially open the company's first UK datacentre in Waltham Cross on Tuesday, amid growing demand for Google's Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps services. She will also host the bosses of top US and UK financial companies in Downing Street on Tuesday. The meeting will be attended by senior figures from BlackRock, Barclays and Blackstone. She said: "Google's £5bn investment is a powerful vote of confidence in the UK economy and the strength of our partnership with the US, creating jobs and economic growth for years to come. "This government is reversing decades of underinvestment that has held us back for too long, by slashing burdensome red tape, delivering bold reforms of the planning system and investing in better tech to unlock better jobs and opportunities." The Google DeepMind co-founder and chief executive, Demis Hassabis, said: "We founded DeepMind in London because we knew the UK had the potential and talent to be a global hub for pioneering AI. "The UK has a rich history of being at the forefront of technology - from Lovelace to Babbage to Turing - so it's fitting that we're continuing that legacy by investing in the next wave of innovation and scientific discovery in the UK."

Google announces $5bn investment as details of UK-US 'tech pact' awaited

We can expect a flurry of tech announcements in coming days as Donald Trump visits the UK, reportedly accompanied by Nividia and OpenAI CEOs. Google is first out of the blocks. Google today (16 September) announced the opening of its data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, as part of a "two-year £5bn investment" in the UK. It is unclear as yet whether this is part of the $10bn in economic deals promised during Donald Trump's second state visit by US officials in a press briefing on Monday. According to Reuters, the officials also flagged that a trade agreement would be signed, covering three main pillars - science and technology nuclear power and defense technology. The Google data centre opening was a welcome event for UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves, in what has been a torrid week for the UK government, dealing with the loss of their ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, in less than edifying circumstances. "Google's £5bn investment is a powerful vote of confidence in the UK economy and the strength of our partnership with the US, creating jobs and economic growth for years to come," said Reeves at the opening. Google says the "state-of-the-art" data centre will help meet growing demand for its AI-powered services like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps, and that the £5bn includes Google's capital expenditure, research and development, and related engineering over the next two years. It claims the project will help create 8,250 jobs annually at UK businesses. "With today's announcement, Google is deepening our roots in the UK and helping support Great Britain's potential with AI to add £400bn to the economy by 2030 while also enhancing critical social services," said Ruth Porat, president and chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google. Rumours abound as to the signing of a US-UK tech partnership or 'tech pact'. It is likely to offer "a common approach to AI, quantum computing, and rare earth minerals", according to UK think tank Chatham House, while it is thought that Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Apple's Tim Cook might be on hand for any announcement. Nvidia boss Jensen Huang will host a party in London's King's Cross on Thursday night, according to Politico, who also report that OpenAI's Altman will be on the UK trip, as well as Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. A Blackstone subsidiary is leading the mooted Blyth data centre in the UK's north east, and Politico says we can expect a big announcement from Nvidia on investment in what would be the UK's biggest data centre in Blyth, when it will be billed as a 'British Stargate'. While any tech pact with the US will be welcome news for many, given a sluggish UK economy, there are those who have concerns that any UK-US deal could include pressure for the UK to loosen online regulations. The Trump administration has made no secret of its distaste for EU and UK online privacy and safety regulations. "Whilst I'm pleased that the UK is an attractive place for US investment, the UK needs to take decisions that are in its long-term strategic interest," said Chi Onwurah, chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee "True technology sovereignty cannot mean being dependent on one investor or country." Liberal Democrat leader Ed Dave was less polite, warning that the mooted deal could be a "Silicon Valley stitch up", Sky News reports. "I am really concerned the government is going to agree to a Silicon Valley stitch-up that hands tax cuts to tech billionaires while undermining protections for our children online." Expect many big announcements from the UK in coming days, as Donal Trump is due to arrive tonight. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Google makes £5bn pledge to Britain - but concerns raised over mooted UK-US tech deal

The major deal, which will see Google create up to 8,250 jobs annually at its UK businesses, is part of a package of announcements expected to be made during Donald Trump's state visit to Britain, which have angered some. Google is set to invest £5bn in the UK in the next two years, to support growing demands for AI services. The announcement, which comes as Google opens a new data centre in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, is expected to contribute to the creation of thousands of jobs, the US tech giant said. It also follows reports that ChatGPT parent firm OpenAI, and Nvidia, will also unveil billions of dollars' worth of investment into UK data centres this week. The chancellor said the investment would boost research and development, capital expenditure and engineering. However, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has criticised the proposed deal as a "Silicon Valley stitch-up", and has demanded the government puts it to a vote in parliament. He said: "I am really concerned the government is going to agree to a Silicon Valley stitch-up that hands tax cuts to tech billionaires while undermining protections for our children online." Sir Ed added: "Parents want protections for children online to be kept in place, not traded away in a backroom deal with tech barons. "We can't let the government sign up to a deal that benefits Elon Musk at the expense of the British people." Read more: What Elon Musk told crowds in London via video link Google has confirmed it will invest £5bn into capital expenditure, research and development, and related engineering over the next two years, which will include "pioneering" AI research in science and healthcare through its DeepMind operation. The Silicon Valley firm said the investment will help the UK grow its AI economy and contribute to technological breakthroughs, improvements in cybersecurity and job creation. Google predicted the investment will help to create 8,250 jobs annually at UK businesses. DeepMind co-founder and chief executive Demis Hassabis said: "We founded DeepMind in London because we knew the UK had the potential and talent to be a global hub for pioneering AI. "The UK has a rich history of being at the forefront of technology - from Lovelace to Babbage to Turing - so it's fitting that we're continuing that legacy by investing in the next wave of innovation and scientific discovery in the UK."

Google Pledges Nearly $7 Billion in U.K. Investments

Alphabet's Google said it would invest 5 billion pounds ($6.78 billion) in the U.K. over the next two years, the latest big-ticket commitment from an American tech giant seeking to expand artificial-intelligence infrastructure and other services in Europe. The company said the investment--covering AI, energy capacity, workforce training, research and development, and related engineering--would add more than 8,000 jobs a year at businesses across the U.K. "With today's announcement, Google is deepening our roots in the U.K. and helping support Great Britain's potential with AI to add 400 billion pounds to the economy by 2030 while also enhancing critical social services," Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer at Alphabet and Google, said in a statement. Google is the latest American giant to announce a large-scale investment in Europe. Advancements in AI have ushered in a wave of spending from companies seeking to bolster their AI offering and satisfy growing demand for data centers that have become essential to power the technology. Oracle said in July that it would invest $3 billion to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure in Germany and the Netherlands over the next five years. Microsoft in October unveiled plans to spend about $4.75 billion over two years in cloud and AI infrastructure in Italy. Amazon.com said in June last year that it was planning to invest 17.8 billion euros ($20.89 billion) through 2040 to expand its logistics network and cloud infrastructure in Germany. The e-commerce giant also laid out plans to invest 15.7 billion euros over the next decade to expand its cloud services in Spain. Google's investment pledge came as the company announced the opening of a data center north of London at an event attended by U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The company said the facility would help meet growing demand for AI-powered services like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps.