Tech giants OpenAI and Nvidia are reportedly planning to unveil billions of dollars of investment into UK data centres when they accompany US President Donald Trump on his state visit next week.
Sam Altman, the boss of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and chipmaker Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang are understood to be working with London-based data centre business Nscale Global Holdings on the project, as first reported by Bloomberg.
The bosses are said to be part of a delegation of US executives set to visit Britain, with the tech spending pledge expected to be one of a raft of UK investment announcements by American firms during Mr Trump’s stay.
It is thought the UK Government would supply energy for the data centres project, with OpenAI offering access to its AI tools and Nvidia the chips used to power AI models.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled an action plan in January to make the UK an AI “superpower” by expanding use of the technology.
He announced plans for a series of AI “growth zones” around Britain to help speed up planning approvals for data centres and improve access to the energy grid.Sir Keir also said the UK would invest in building more data centres, having previously declared them “critical national infrastructure”.
The Government has been hoping to attract AI investment with its action plan, but also spur on the adoption of the technology across Whitehall in a bid to improve productivity and cut costs.
In July, OpenAI announced a strategic tie-up with the Government to look at the UK’s infrastructure needs as part of a raft of areas to collaborate on.
The memorandum of understanding will look at options to accelerate the UK’s adoption of AI.
OpenAI and Nvidia declined to comment. Nscale has been approached for comment.
