Britain's Google Intends £5 Billion AI Investment in the UK in the Wake of Trump's Visit
In a significant move, Alphabet, the parent company of Google and its AI research arm DeepMind, has announced a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment in the United Kingdom. This investment is expected to create thousands of future-focused jobs and strengthen the UK's position in the global AI landscape.
The investment will provide new infrastructure, including a £735 million ($1 billion) data center in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. Notably, this data center will utilise air-cooling rather than water-cooling and will reuse heat captured from the facility to warm local schools and homes, contributing to energy efficiency.
DeepMind, founded by Nobel Prize winner Sir Demis Hassabis, is one of the world's leading centers for AI development. With the new resources, DeepMind is expected to expand into areas such as energy efficiency, climate modeling, and advanced material design.
Alphabet's chief investment officer, Ruth Porat, emphasized the strategic importance of the UK, calling it a place of "profound opportunities" in science and research. Porat praised the UK government's AI Opportunities Action Plan but warned that more work is needed to ensure the AI boom delivers broad economic benefits.
Porat argued that AI is designed to work alongside people rather than replace them in fields such as nursing and radiology. She also called for modernizing the power grid to better balance supply and demand.
The partnership between the US and the UK was described by Porat as a "special technology relationship." Alphabet's investment is expected to be the first of several multi-billion-dollar investments from US firms in Britain this week.
Google has signed a deal with Shell to supply the UK operations with "95% carbon-free energy." This commitment places Alphabet among technology giants (Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple) valued at more than $3 trillion on global stock markets.
The announcement has already supported a stronger pound, boosted in part by US capital flows and expectations of interest rate changes. Google's share price surged after US courts decided against breaking up the company. Porat credited CEO Sundar Pichai's strategy of making Google an "AI First" company as the reason for much of the firm's recent financial performance.
On Tuesday, Alphabet will officially open the data center, with UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves joining the ceremony. Analysts believe this investment will mark a new era of collaboration between the US and the UK in technology and AI development.
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