Nvidia to Invest £2 Billion to Boost UK’s AI Startups

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(Bloomberg) — Nvidia Corp. plans to invest £2 billion ($2.7 billion) in the UK’s artificial intelligence startup ecosystem in partnership with several venture capital companies. 

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The chipmaker will deploy the new capital to help “empower the UK to compete in the AI market globally” and will work with venture capital firms Accel, Air Street Capital, Balderton Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Phoenix Court, according to an Nvidia statement Thursday. 

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The investment will be “domiciled in the US and activated in the UK,” and provide researchers and startups access to funding and computing power, the company said in the statement. The figure includes Nvidia’s £500 million equity stake in British AI data center company Nscale, announced Wednesday. 

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The money will be drawn from Nvidia’s balance sheet, according to a spokesperson. The UK VC partners will help the chipmaker identify AI startups to support, but won’t necessarily co-invest, the spokesperson said. 

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“The United Kingdom is in a Goldilocks moment, where world-class universities, bold startups, leading researchers and cutting-edge supercomputing converge,” Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said in a statement. “There has never been a better time to invest in the UK.”

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Nvidia’s financing is one of a slew of AI announcements from US technology companies this week, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK. Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI have also announced UK investments and partnerships totalling tens of billions of dollars. Nvidia’s investment will help UK AI startups overcome market constraints, including access to supercomputing, rising energy costs and lack of funding, the chipmaker said.  

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The UK is home to Google’s AI unit DeepMind and high-profile AI startups such as self-driving software company Wayve. While it is the biggest European market for startups by volume and size of deals, it has yet to produce a national AI champion akin to OpenAI in the US, or France’s Mistral.

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Accel, Balderton Capital, Hoxton and Phoenix Court are some of London’s most active, well-known funds, and have invested in British AI startups such as Synthesia. Air Street Capital is a smaller fund, backed by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, that specializes in AI and biotech companies. 

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Huang is among the Silicon Valley leaders joining Trump during his visit, and attended a banquet with King Charles III at Windsor Castle on Wednesday after announcing Nvidia’s investment in Nscale. The little-known startup, which spun out of a crypto miner 14 months ago, also partnered with Nvidia and OpenAI for the launch of Stargate UK, an offshoot of a larger US push to increase the capacity to run AI systems. 

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The announcements bolster an effort by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to strengthen ties with the US and boost technology growth. Starmer described Nvidia’s investment as a “major vote of confidence in the UK both today and long into the future.”

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In January, the prime minister laid out a plan to “turbocharge AI” with investment in data centers and chips. He also called for the creation of “AI growth zones,” where data centers can get fast-tracked planning approval and access to the electricity grid.

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—With assistance from Mark Bergen.

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