New AI deal could rapidly boost UK economy, says Microsoft boss (www.bbc.co.uk)

Microsoft announced a £22bn ($30bn) investment in the UK’s AI sector — its largest outside the US — as part of a broader £31bn "Tech Prosperity Deal" that also includes Google, Nvidia, OpenAI and others. The package funds data centres, a Microsoft-backed supercomputer in Loughton, Essex, and a new "Stargate UK" data centre region in Northumberland, with government estimates of thousands of skilled jobs and a potential GDP boost within five years. Google pledged £5bn, Nvidia up to £11bn, and OpenAI joined smaller-scale UK infrastructure plans compared with its vast $500bn US Stargate commitment. The deal’s backers say this infrastructure buildout will accelerate AI-driven gains in healthcare, public services and business productivity. The announcement matters because it signals major private capital pouring into compute, chip and data-centre capacity in Europe, addressing a key bottleneck for training and deploying large models. Technical implications include expanded high-performance compute (HPC) availability, tighter hardware-software partnerships, and regional AI hubs that could reduce latency and foster local innovation. Risks remain: energy consumption and grid strain, environmental and planning hurdles, and creative-sector concerns about copyright and tax — the government says no tax breaks or copyright guarantees were promised. Satya Nadella cautioned against hype, framing the move as infrastructure-driven economic growth but acknowledging boom-bust dynamics in tech.