Nvidia Eyes UK as Strategic Ground for AI Infrastructure Growth
Huang emphasized UK’s unique readiness to support large-scale AI initiatives, highlighting a need for local infrastructure to anchor its potential.
Aino Lehtinen 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang signaled a strong intention to expand operations in the United Kingdom, underlining the country’s alignment of factors that make it ideal for artificial intelligence development. Speaking alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson, Huang noted that the UK presents a “balanced environment” for AI growth, combining talent, research, and government cooperation, though still lacking a foundational domestic AI infrastructure.
AI innovation needs more than ideas – it needs machines
During the public panel, Huang pointed to the UK's long-standing academic strengths and growing AI startup community as major assets. He mentioned that DeepMind, Wayve, Synthesia, and ElevenLabs are clear indicators of the UK’s innovative capabilities in machine learning. However, he also stressed that research and startups alone are not enough — computing infrastructure must follow.
According to Huang, the ability to host AI supercomputers domestically could lead to a broader wave of entrepreneurship and research breakthroughs within the country. “You can’t advance AI without the machines to train it,” he noted, suggesting that capital investment should now be directed toward establishing computing capacity within the UK.
Nvidia launches sovereign AI forum and supports local cloud expansion
On the same day, Nvidia announced the formation of a new UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum, designed to bring together public and private stakeholders to coordinate investments in domestic AI capabilities. Additionally, two cloud service providers, Nscale and Nebius, confirmed plans to launch data center operations in the UK using thousands of Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.
These developments point to a shift in Nvidia’s strategy to support geographically distributed AI infrastructure, with the UK positioned as a central hub.
Starmer government aims to scale AI sector by 2030
The investment momentum aligns with the UK government's recent focus on turning the country into a competitive AI power. In January, Keir Starmer introduced a framework to significantly increase national computing capacity — by up to twenty times by 2030 — and ease regulations on building new data centers.
Huang’s remarks and Nvidia’s new commitments add weight to the UK’s ambitions. While praising the UK’s AI community and startup activity, Huang emphasized that the next step requires serious infrastructure. “The ecosystem is ready, it just needs its engine,” he summarized.
