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ServiceNow and CoreWeave, along with other tech firms, are poised to invest a significant USD $8.2 billion in U.K. data centres, showcasing strong support for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to attract foreign investment.
ServiceNow plans to invest USD $1.5 billion over the next five years to enhance its operations in the U.K., including expanding office space and increasing its workforce beyond the current 1,000 employees. The company aims to localise data processing for its large language models (LLMs), which require extensive training data to generate human-like text.
To support this, ServiceNow will integrate Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) into its data centres in London and Newport, enabling the development of domain-specific LLMs for U.K. clients and government entities.
Furthermore, the concept of AI sovereignty is gaining traction among European policymakers, which emphasises the need for advanced AI technologies and data to be stored within Europe.
CoreWeave, a cloud computing firm that provides high-performance GPUs, has committed £750 million to bolster the U.K.’s AI infrastructure, following an earlier £1 billion investment in May. Additionally, U.S.-based data centre operators CyrusOne and CloudHQ announced plans for substantial investments of £2.5 billion and £1.9 billion, respectively.
In total, these cloud infrastructure investments amount to approximately £6.3 billion, according to the U.K. government. U.K. Technology Minister Peter Kyle stated that this wave of investment is a “vote of confidence in Britain” and its collaborative approach with businesses.
ServiceNow also plans to introduce skills programs that aims to reach 240,000 people in the U.K. CEO Bill McDermott highlighted the country’s leadership in technological transformation and innovation for community benefit.
These announcements were made during the International Investment Summit, where Prime Minister Starmer is engaging with business leaders to promote foreign investments. Other U.S. tech companies have also made significant commitments. For instance, Salesforce opened its first global AI centre in London as part of a USD $4 billion investment strategy focused on AI training and industry collaboration.