In September, the news that the US and UK governments will collaborate on building nuclear power plants – mostly to power new AI data centres, was quickly followed by the announcement of planned investments by major players including Microsoft, NVIDIA and Google, aimed at supercharging the UK’s AI industry.
► UK is in a ‘Goldilocks’ position on AI says NVIDIA CEO
► Microsoft to pump £22 billion into DCs and Essex supercomputer
NVIDIA, Open AI, and the UK’s Nscale, will collaborate on a new data centre in the north-east, which is being designated as an AI Growth Zone. In a Sky News report, Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO, was quoted as saying: ‘We are at the Big Bang of the AI era – and the UK stands in a Goldilocks position, where world-class talent, research and industry converge.’
Microsoft also pledged £22 billion – its largest ever UK investment – to expand its data centres and construct the country's largest AI supercomputer, which will be built in Loughton, Essex.
In a BBC report, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, said he expected the AI investment to bring positive results for the whole economy. "Whenever anyone gets excited about AI, I want to see it ultimately in the economic growth and the GDP growth.’
Meanwhile, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, pledged £5 billion to expand its Hertfordshire data centres and provide additional funding for its UK-based DeepMind AI business.
But what does all this mean to UK channel partners? First of all, it's got to be good that industry behemoths like Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Google are investing in the UK's digital infrastructure. It’s going to trigger significant increased economic activity, which in itself is good news.
The whole ‘Tech Prosperity Deal’ project should spark further interest and curiosity around AI and encourage more organisations to investigate its potential. That could lead to real projects for partners that have a clear specialisation or value proposition around AI. Partners could also get involved in fulfilling the equipment requirements for these huge data centres when they are constructed.
Major infrastructure projects also tend to attract additional investments by other organisations who see opportunities to leverage the heightened interest and grow themselves. Consequently, we could see more money coming into the UK’s AI sector over the next few years. And Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google and the others involved in this round will surely want to build on their initial investment and foothold.
What we can be certain of is that there will be increasing interest and excitement around AI. Not only because of the pact between the UK and the US and the major investments being made, but due to the incredible momentum behind the technology. Partners need to be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that this will unquestionably bring over the coming years.
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