£31bn UK-US Tech Pact accelerates AI and quantum for faster treatments, clean energy and high-skilled jobs

US-UK Tech Prosperity Deal: Faster drug discovery, scalable compute, and a new AI Growth Zone

The UK and US have agreed a Tech Prosperity Deal covering AI, quantum, and nuclear. Alongside the pact, American tech firms announced more than £31 billion for UK AI and tech infrastructure - including data centres, GPUs, and a national-scale supercomputer.

The goal is direct: speed up drug discovery and precision medicine, improve cancer care, expand compute access for researchers, and create tens of thousands of skilled jobs. A North East AI Growth Zone is planned, with potential for 5,000+ jobs and major private investment.

Why this matters for scientists and researchers

• Faster therapeutic pipelines via joint AI and quantum programs, with access to trusted datasets such as UK Biobank.
• Significant expansion of GPU capacity across the UK to run large-scale models and workflows.
• Cross-Atlantic research schemes and talent exchange in AI, quantum, and fusion energy.
• Streamlined civil nuclear licensing to support stable, lower-carbon energy for research and compute facilities.

Key investments and infrastructure

• Combined: £31 billion committed today by Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI, CoreWeave, and others (in addition to £44 billion previously invested into UK AI and tech under this government).
• Microsoft: $30 billion (≈£22 billion) for UK cloud and AI infrastructure and operations, including the country's largest AI supercomputer (23,000+ advanced GPUs) with Nscale.
• NVIDIA: 120,000 advanced GPUs to be deployed across the UK - including up to 60,000 Grace Blackwell Ultra GPUs via Nscale for "Stargate UK," plus collaboration with OpenAI and Microsoft in Loughton. Arm designs feature in the latest Grace Blackwell series.
• Google: Data centre opening in Waltham Cross within a 2-year £5 billion UK investment. Projected to support 8,250 jobs a year at UK businesses.
• CoreWeave: £1.5 billion for AI data centre capacity and operations in the UK; partnership with DataVita in Scotland to build one of Europe's largest, efficient AI data centres, run on renewable energy.
• Salesforce: Additional $2 billion (≈£1.4 billion) in the UK through 2030; UK to serve as its AI hub for Europe.
• AI Pathfinder (UK): Over £1 billion to deliver AI compute capacity starting in Northamptonshire.
• Scale AI: £39 million over two years; expanding its European HQ in London and growing headcount.
• BlackRock: £500 million into enterprise data centres across the UK, including £100+ million west of London.
• Further context: Oracle reaffirmed $5 billion over 5 years; AWS announced £8 billion for UK data centres earlier this year.

Drug discovery and precision medicine

The deal sets up a joint US-UK research effort to apply AI to targeted treatments and chronic disease - built on secure, high-quality datasets (e.g., UK Biobank). The partnership will also develop new AI models for clinical breakthroughs, including cancer and rare diseases.

NASA and the UK Space Agency will collaborate on AI models to support science and exploration missions. For researchers, this means more shared models, reproducible toolchains, and cross-institutional projects with clear public-good applications. You can track NASA's AI work here: NASA AI.

Quantum collaboration

The UK and US will set up a joint taskforce to speed quantum R&D and deployment across health, defence, finance, and energy. Expect exchange programs and industry placements to accelerate adoption.

Recent moves show momentum: Oxford Quantum Circuits installed New York City's first quantum computer with NVIDIA and Digital Realty, and IonQ is establishing its EMEA HQ plus R&D and manufacturing in Oxford after a $1 billion merger with Oxford Ionics.

Nuclear and fusion

The pact aims to cut red tape for new civil nuclear projects, reducing time to license. That supports long-term energy security and high-skilled industrial jobs.

Fusion remains a shared priority. Collaboration between US and UK labs and companies is intended to bring commercial fusion closer, with parallel progress on AI safety, standards, and secure innovation.

North East AI Growth Zone

The North East is set to become an AI Growth Zone, with potential for billions in private investment and more than 5,000 jobs. Early Stargate UK deployment is expected at Cobalt Park.

Blackstone's hyperscale data centre campus in Northumberland is designated within this zone, with a projected £10 billion build-out by Blackstone funds, subject to development and approvals.

Who's partnering with whom

• Nscale + OpenAI: Stargate UK; initial deployments in the North East; partnership with Microsoft on the UK's largest AI supercomputer.
• NVIDIA + UK ecosystem: 120,000 GPUs across the country; investment in UK startups; collaboration with Arm.
• CoreWeave + DataVita: Major AI data centre in Scotland run on renewable energy.
• Google + DeepMind: New data centre plus ongoing research across science and healthcare.
• Salesforce: New R&D teams in the UK to support business innovation across Europe.
• techUK + NVIDIA + Quanser + QA: Funding, training, and collaboration opportunities for robotics and automation.
• Scale AI: Expanded UK footprint and headcount to support data annotation and model training needs.
• OQC + NVIDIA + Digital Realty: Quantum-AI data centre initiative near New York City.
• IonQ + Oxford Ionics: EMEA HQ, R&D, and manufacturing hub in Oxford following merger.

Action list for research leaders

• Assess near-term compute needs against the incoming GPU capacity from Microsoft, NVIDIA, Nscale, and CoreWeave. Prioritise projects that can scale.
• Prepare joint-bid templates for expected US-UK calls on AI for drug discovery and precision medicine. Line up clinical partners and data governance up front.
• Leverage trusted datasets early. Align study designs with UK Biobank access models and ethics requirements.
• Position teams for the quantum taskforce and exchange programs. Shortlist use cases where quantum can replace or augment current simulation pipelines.
• Plan for energy-resilient operations as new civil nuclear projects progress. Map lab and data centre siting to upcoming capacity.
• Engage North East Growth Zone contacts if you're building AI labs, spinouts, or data infrastructure. Early movers will benefit from co-location effects.
• Strengthen AI safety and evaluation practices. Expect shared UK-US standards and increased scrutiny on model behaviours used in healthcare.

Upskill your team

If you're formalising AI capability in your lab or institute, these resources can help:

• AI courses by job - map roles to specific AI skills.
• AI courses sorted by leading AI companies - train on the stacks you'll deploy.

Bottom line

This deal couples major GPU deployments, data centres, and joint research with a clear healthcare focus. For scientists and R&D teams, the window to secure compute, talent, and partnerships is now - before allocation tightens.