Google to invest £5 billion in UK AI over two years, opens Waltham Cross data centre
Company says funding will back data centre expansion, R&D and skills training as other US tech firms prepare investments during US president’s state visit
Google said Tuesday it will invest £5 billion in the United Kingdom over the next two years to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure, research and engineering capacity, and to support skills training across the country.
The announcement was made as the company formally opened a new data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. Google said the package will be directed toward capital expenditure, research and development, engineering and expanded energy capacity, and that some work will support "pioneering" AI research in science and healthcare through its DeepMind laboratory.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves described the investment as a "powerful vote of confidence" in the British economy, saying the company’s decision would create jobs and growth. Google estimated the investment could support about 8,250 jobs annually across UK businesses and said 250 local companies were involved in building the new facility.
Ruth Porat, Google’s chief investment officer, highlighted the company’s skills work, saying Google has trained one million people in the U.K. over the past decade to support AI adoption. Porat said Britain’s AI potential could contribute as much as £400 billion to the economy by 2030 and that the company’s spending on technical infrastructure and job-ready skills would help keep communities "at the cutting-edge of global tech opportunities."
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind, noted DeepMind was founded in London and said the U.K. has the talent to be a global hub for advanced AI research. The investment will involve DeepMind activity aimed at scientific and medical discovery, Google said.
The announcement came as U.S. President Donald Trump visited the U.K. for a state visit. Reuters and other outlets reported that other U.S. technology companies, including OpenAI and Nvidia, were preparing to announce multi-billion-dollar investments in U.K. data centres in connection with the visit; those reports described potential investments as being under discussion but were separate from Google’s confirmed commitment.
Government statements accompanying the opening said the investment reflected recent policy changes intended to speed planning approvals and reduce regulatory burdens for infrastructure projects. Officials framed the Google commitment as evidence that reforms and public investment were improving the U.K. investment climate.
Google did not provide a detailed breakdown of where the £5 billion would be spent or a precise timetable beyond the two-year horizon. The company said the investment would include expanded energy capacity to support data centre operations and additional engineering roles, without specifying the number of new permanent positions at Google itself.
Analysts and industry officials have flagged the U.K. as a strong base for AI research and data infrastructure, citing the country’s academic talent and existing clusters such as London and Cambridge. Google’s move follows years of investment by major cloud and AI companies in European data centres and research facilities as demand for large-scale computing capacity grows.
The Waltham Cross facility is the latest in a network of Google data centres across Europe. Company representatives said local suppliers and contractors contributed to the project and that the centre will support services ranging from cloud computing to AI model training and deployment.
The U.K. government and Google characterized the commitment as linking economic development and technological leadership, with official statements emphasizing job creation, skills training and research collaboration. Independent scrutiny of long-term economic impacts and the distribution of benefits across regions will depend on future disclosures about project spending, hiring and the nature of R&D partnerships.
Google’s statement and speeches at the opening did not provide details on any tax arrangements or specific public incentives tied to the investment. The company and government officials said negotiations over planning and operational matters followed standard procedures for infrastructure projects.
As data-intensive AI services expand, companies and governments are increasingly focusing on energy, workforce training and regional economic effects. Google’s announced package contributes to that trend and underscores the growing role of large-scale computing infrastructure in national technology strategies.