By Jess Jones
Prime Minister Rishi Suank has described a major investment by Microsoft into UK data centres as a “turning point” for the nation as it strives to become a science superpower.
The tech giant has committed £2.5bn to building artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the UK, including doubling its data centre space, which is crucial to the development of AI models.
Sunak, who is pushing the UK to be a global leader in technology, said: “Microsoft are one of the founding fathers of modern technology and today’s announcement is a turning point for the future of AI infrastructure and development in the UK.
“The UK started the global conversation on AI earlier this month, and Microsoft’s historic investment is further evidence of the leading role we continue to play in expanding the frontiers of AI to harness it’s economic and scientific benefits,” he added.
Microsoft’s investment aims to provide the UK with over 20,000 of the “most advanced” graphics processing units (GPUs), needed for machine learning, to the UK by 2026.
It will also train one million people with AI skills, giving them the opportunity to gain a professional certificate on generative AI.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “The UK is the tech hub of Europe with an ecosystem worth more than that of Germany and France combined – and this investment is another vote of confidence in us as a science superpower.”
Last week Hunt announced a £500m investment into compute as part of his Autumn Statement, which was generally welcomed by tech companies up and down the country.
Microsoft UK chief, Clare Barclay, said the investment is the company’s largest in its 40-year plus history in the UK.
But Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, pointed out that, for Microsoft, this investment is small.
He said: “At just over $1bn per year, this investment pales in comparison to Microsoft’s wider capex budget of $40bn per year. As such, it is a fairly low risk play for Microsoft and is unlikely to move the needle as much as it does for the UK government.
“What it is clearly trying to achieve, however, is a global footprint on AI so when regulation does develop it will be in a very good position,” he added.
It comes after a government minister rejected plans to build a data centre next to the M25 earlier this month, partly because it might ruin the view.
