NVIDIA has announced a major expansion of its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United Kingdom, working with several key partners to deploy advanced computing resources. The initiative involves an investment of up to £11 billion and the installation of up to 120,000 of NVIDIA's latest GPUs, marking the largest AI infrastructure rollout in the nation's history.
The plan, detailed three months after a collaboration was first announced by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, aims to establish the UK as a leader in the global AI landscape. It will support the development of sovereign AI capabilities, create new jobs, and drive economic growth across multiple sectors.
Key Takeaways
- NVIDIA and its partners are investing up to £11 billion to build AI infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
- The plan includes the deployment of up to 120,000 advanced NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs by the end of 2026.
- Key partners include Nscale, CoreWeave, Microsoft, and OpenAI, who will build and operate new 'AI factories'.
- The initiative will support major projects like OpenAI's Stargate U.K. and enhance the nation's quantum computing and robotics ecosystems.
A National Strategy for AI Dominance
The United Kingdom is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution through a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA and a consortium of technology companies. The core of the plan involves creating a series of 'AI factories'—large-scale data centers equipped with state-of-the-art hardware designed to train and run complex AI models.
This massive infrastructure upgrade is intended to provide UK-based researchers, startups, and established companies with the computational power needed to innovate. The project follows a commitment made at London Tech Week by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang to foster a robust domestic AI ecosystem.
"The United Kingdom is building the infrastructure for the AI industrial revolution — advancing science, transforming industries and creating new economic opportunities," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
Prime Minister Starmer emphasized the project's importance for the nation's future. "These major announcements mark a decisive step towards the U.K. becoming a world leader in AI, meaning more jobs and investment, more money in people’s pockets and transformed public services," he stated.
Details of the Infrastructure Rollout
The £11 billion initiative is being executed by several key partners who are expanding their UK operations. The plan is one of the most ambitious technology projects in the country's recent history, focusing on deploying next-generation computing hardware.
Major Partner Contributions
Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure company, is significantly expanding its footprint. The company is deploying 60,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs in the UK as part of a larger global rollout of 300,000 units. Nscale is also collaborating with OpenAI and NVIDIA to establish Stargate U.K., a project that will feature NVIDIA's most advanced Blackwell Ultra GPUs by 2026.
By the Numbers
- Total Investment: Up to £11 billion
- Total GPUs in UK: Up to 120,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs
- Nscale's UK Deployment: 60,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs
- Microsoft Supercomputer: Over 24,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell Ultra GPUs
CoreWeave has announced it will establish a new, advanced data center in Scotland. This facility will be powered by renewable energy and equipped with NVIDIA Grace Blackwell Ultra GPUs, providing critical resources for researchers and businesses in the region.
Microsoft is partnering with Nscale to build what is expected to be the UK's most powerful supercomputer. Located in Loughton, the facility will house over 24,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell Ultra GPUs and will be used to deliver Microsoft Azure cloud services within the UK.
Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, commented on the partnership, stating, "We are focused on ensuring that both the U.S. and the U.K. remain at the forefront of AI and cloud innovation."
Investment in Data Center Modernization
In a related development, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, announced an investment of up to £500 million. This capital, in partnership with Digital Gravity Partners, will be used to modernize existing UK data centers, making them 'NVIDIA-ready' to accommodate the latest AI hardware.
Expanding into Quantum and Robotics
Beyond building large-scale AI data centers, the initiative also includes significant investments in the UK's quantum computing and robotics sectors. NVIDIA is collaborating with pioneers in these fields to accelerate development and integration with AI.
What is Sovereign AI?
Sovereign AI refers to a nation's capability to develop and control its own artificial intelligence infrastructure, data, and workforce. This allows a country to build AI systems aligned with its national interests, values, and security requirements, reducing reliance on foreign technology and ensuring economic competitiveness.
Quantum Computing Collaborations
NVIDIA is working with several UK institutions to merge quantum computing with AI supercomputing. Key projects include:
- Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC): Partnering with NVIDIA and Digital Realty to create a quantum-AI center that integrates quantum processors with AI supercomputers using the NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform.
- ORCA Computing: Working with Imperial College London to develop hybrid quantum-AI neural networks.
- University of Edinburgh: Developing GPU-accelerated software for quantum error correction.
- University of Oxford: Using AI to improve the control and precision of quantum hardware.
Fostering Robotics and Workforce Skills
To ensure the UK has the talent to leverage this new infrastructure, NVIDIA is partnering with techUK, Quanser, and QA. This collaboration will launch an R&D hub to support the AI and robotics ecosystem through funding, training, and industry collaboration.
QA will offer NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute courses focused on generative AI, supporting the government's efforts to upskill the national workforce for what is being called the AI industrial revolution.
Building on an Existing Foundation
This new wave of investment builds upon existing AI projects already underway in the UK. The Isambard-AI supercomputer at the University of Bristol, which launched in July and is built on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips, is already accelerating significant national research.
Projects running on Isambard-AI include UK-LLM, a large language model, and Nightingale AI, a health foundation model trained on National Health Service data. These efforts demonstrate the UK's established research capabilities, which the new infrastructure aims to amplify.
The collaboration also involves numerous UK-based startups and life sciences companies using NVIDIA technology for drug discovery, financial modeling, and generative AI tools. According to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, "The U.K. has been a longstanding pioneer of AI and is now home to world-class researchers, millions of ChatGPT users and a government that quickly recognized the potential of this technology."
With this comprehensive strategy, the United Kingdom and its technology partners are making a clear statement about their ambition to not just participate in the age of AI, but to lead it.