Amidst the pageantry of the visit of US President Donald Trump last week, a host of technology deals were announced, with many having a direct positive impact on the UK Innovation Corridor.
At the heart of it all was the Tech Prosperity Deal signed by UK and US Governments, which will see the two counties collaborate artificial intelligence, supercomputing and nuclear power. The agreement represents the single largest package of technology investment ever committed to the UK, and US firms have pledged £150bn of investment into the UK.
The centrepiece of the deal is Microsoft’s £22bn commitment, its largest investment outside of the United States, to fund the expansion of cloud and AI infrastructure across the country. Central to this is a new supercomputer at Nscale’s AI Campus in Loughton, Essex. Due to open in 2026, the Loughton site will become the UK’s largest AI data centre and will create up to 250 permanent jobs, which will bring more growth to the Innovation Corridor.
Google has also confirmed a £5bn programme of investment which includes its newly opened data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, as well as additional funding for DeepMind, its London-based AI research hub. Taken together, Google’s commitment is expected to support more than 8,000 jobs every year in the UK, with thousands of them located in the Innovation Corridor
On the announcement, the Chair of the UK Innovation Corridor, Jackie Sadek, said the following:
“We congratulate the government for the work they have done to secure this investment into the UK, which is a ringing endorsement of the potential our innovative companies have to grow and shape the technologies of the future.
Businesses in the Innovation Corridor will continue to be at the forefront of realising this potential, and the investment announced by Microsoft into Loughton, and by Google into Waltham Cross are just the start.”
