Three technology giants have pledged to spend more than £14bn on infrastructure to help deliver an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution in the UK.
Californian company Vantage Data Centres, New York-registered Kyndryl and London-based Nscale will pump money into the emerging industry as the government seeks to harness its potential.
The announcements coincided with the launch of the government’s AI initiative yesterday (13 January). Prime minister Keir Starmer backed almost all 50 recommendations in an independently created blueprint for developing the technology.
Vantage Data Centres will lead the investment charge with £12bn for data centres across the UK.
Nscale said it had purchased a site in Loughton, Essex, for its first UK data centre, which could be live in 2026 and house up to 45,000 modern graphics processing units. The firm said this project would create 500 construction jobs, while it intends to start building “multiple modular UK-based data centres” later this year.
Kyndryl announced plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years through a new tech hub.
The government added that the expenditure by the tech trio would deliver more than 13,000 jobs.
Ministers also pledged to set out a long-term plan for AI infrastructure needs this spring and said they were “committed” to drawing up a 10-year investment roadmap.
This will include the creation of AI growth zones – areas with enhanced access to power and support for planning approvals – to accelerate build-out.
The government announcement revealed the first will be in Culham, Oxfordshire, at the headquarters of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
In spring 2025, the government and UKAEA will procure a private sector partner to develop one of the UK’s largest AI data centres. It will begin with 100MW of capacity, with plans to scale up to 500MW. Other AI growth zones will also be announced in the spring.
Civil Engineering Contractors Association director of operations Marie-Claude Hemming said: “The development of AI growth zones is to be welcomed, and it must act as a starting-gun for our sector to embrace the opportunities AI offers.”
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said the government support “firms up the longer-term prospects for one of the growth areas of construction at the moment, new data centres”.
But she added: “Ease of connections to the electricity grid will be key to effective delivery. This was a potential constraint highlighted in the announcement and gives some hope that the government is aware of issues that have held up construction in other sectors such as housing.”
