Some of the world’s most influential tech magnates joined President Trump on his state visit to the UK, as the two nations ushered in a £31bn “tech prosperity deal” as part of a larger £150bn investment from US companies.
At the state banquet on Tuesday, King Charles was joined by chief executive of Nvidia Jensen Huang, alongside Apple boss Tim Cook and enigmatic OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.
The billionaire lineup accompanying President Trump represented the US tech elite, whose companies are at the forefront of the global digital race, in particular on AI. Their presence at Windsor Castle was somewhat unprecedented, with the tech magnates being the first to join a US President on a state visit to the UK.
The fact President Trump was flanked by a trio of tech billionaires, whose companies are valued at around £7 trillion combined, also set the tone for the increasing role of private tech companies in global geopolitics, particularly when it comes to the AI race.
“President Trump’s state visit is a pivotal opportunity for the US and UK to deepen their technology partnership,” Julian David OBE, CEO of trade body TechUK, told The Independent.
“Our two nations are uniquely placed to lead [on AI]. A tech pact can cement joint leadership in AI, quantum and other critical fields, while laying the foundations for a lasting digital trade framework.”
As the US cohort touched down in the UK, tech giant Microsoft announced a £22 billion investment into the UK’s AI sector, while Nvidia – the world’s largest company – pledged to invest £11 billion in “the largest AI infrastructure rollout in [UK] history”.
Alongside OpenAI and Nscale, Nvidia is bringing Stargate to the UK, an AI infrastructure project which develops localised computing power.
This is the biggest investment into AI that the UK has seen so far, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claimed that AI would drive growth in the UK economy.
“Whenever anyone gets excited about AI, I want to see it ultimately in the economic growth and the GDP growth,” he told the BBC.
But some have expressed skepticism over the investments from AI companies, which could be seen as a move to encourage the government to relax digital regulation.
The UK currently has a Digital Service Tax, which takes a 2 per cent levy on revenues from search engines, social media and other online marketplaces – which affects multinational tech giants like Google, OpenAI and more.
In addition, the UK is still consulting on an AI Bill which passed earlier this year, to find a solution on copyright battles which have seen work from creative industries used to train AI models without remuneration.
Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s AI Minister, told Politico he had made no regulatory promises as part of the deal.
At the banquet, Sir Keir Starmer was sat next to Stephen Schwarzman, head of investment magnate Blackstone. The private equity firm has pledged to invest £90bn into the UK economy over the next decade.
Although investment into the UK’s tech economy is welcome, some have warned that these closer ties may represent an increasing dependence on US capital.
Former Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg described the deals as “sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley”, saying that this infrastructure is necessary for AI companies themselves.
“They’re building datacentres all over the world. Maybe [the deals] were pushed a bit forward just to meet the timetable with this week’s state visit. But … it’s all one-way traffic,” he said.
Meanwhile, a TechUK spokesperson told The Independent that while global tech giants bring valuable expertise and investment, there needs to be a focus on the UK’s own AI businesses.
“At the same time, the UK government and industry need to ensure that this external involvement complements, rather than overshadows, homegrown businesses.”
Sir Keir, for his part, has said that the investments are “a testament to Britain’s economic strength”.
“AI is moving fast and Britain intends to lead,” a government spokesperson told The Independent.
A US-UK tech partnership has been in the works for some time, with AI being a particular sticking point.
The transatlantic tech ties were a major mission of Lord Peter Mandelson, the former US ambassador who was sacked last week amid criticism over his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In the wake of his exit, the successful £31 billion AI investment announced this week is a positive note for the future of tech relations between the two countries, bolstered by the presence of heavyweights like OpenAI and Nvidia.
The UK’s focus on boosting homegrown tech and AI is as much economic as it is political.
“The UK is trying to thread the needle between the U.S. and EU right now. AI is no exception,” Scott Singer, AI security researcher at the University of Oxford, told The Independent.
As it stands, the UK is a highly services-based economy; profiting from service exports like law, finance and others.
But when it comes to AI, the UK is far behind the US, and also China.
Last year, the AI market in the UK was valued at £72.3bn, according to the Department of Business and Trade. Though this was the largest in Europe, it paled in comparison to the US, which is estimated at £171 billion and growing.
Meanwhile, the UN trade body projects that the AI market will hit $4.8 trillion by 2033, up from just $189 billion in 2023. That’s over $4.6 trillion of growth opportunity of which the UK is looking to benefit.
“The AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said earlier this year when launching the AI Opportunities Action Plan.
“And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”
But AI is highly resource-heavy, and a push requires investment in two major parts: computational power, and energy.
Data centres are central to powering AI, holding up to hundreds of thousands of servers. There are currently 484 data centers listed in the UK, with the highest concentration in London, Manchester, and Birmingham.
“Data centres are the backbone of the UK’s digital economy and will be central to delivering our AI and innovation ambitions in the years to come,” a TechUK spokesperson told The Independent.
These data centres already support around 43,500 jobs, according to research from TechUK, and could add a further 58,000 jobs to the UK economy by 2035.
Google has also opened a new data centre in Waltham Cross this week pledging £5 billion over the next two years to meet AI demand in the UK. The billions of investment into UK data centres announced by Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia and more will have huge power demands, as the government announces major boost into nuclear energy and a new “landmark” US partnership.
These four major players in the AI space are all American companies, with OpenAI and Nvidia bosses joining President Trump at Windsor last night.
On concerns over how UK companies can compete with global AI leaders, Mr Singer notes that the UK benefits “substantially” from close ties with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
“The UK gets access to companies’ newest models before they are released publicly,” he explained.
“That offers the ability for the UK’s top technical researchers to identify vulnerabilities before the models are publicly released, which is very useful for UK national security.”
However, he notes that the UK does face a challenge in spurring homegrown AI development, since competition with established heavyweights like Nvidia would be unrealistic.
“The UK will have a challenging balancing act as it develops its own AI products and infrastructure and relies on other countries for other technologies,” Mr Singer told The Independent.
“The strategic question is, what parts of the AI stack are both useful for Britain to build out, and are in reach?”
