Rachel Reeves says move is a ‘vote of confidence’ in British economy as she prepares to open firm’s first UK datacentre
Google has said it will invest £5bn in the UK in the next two years to help meet growing demand for artificial intelligence services, in a boost for the government.
The investment, which comes as Google opens its new datacentre in Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, is expected to contribute to the creation of thousands of jobs, the US tech company said.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves – who is attempting to drive growth amid pressure over the lacklustre state of the UK economy - said the investment into research and development, capital expenditure and engineering was a “vote of confidence” in the UK economy.
The US president, Donald Trump, begins his official state visit to the UK on Tuesday, and the ChatGPT parent firm, OpenAI, and the chip designer Nvidia will this week also reportedly announce billions of dollars’ worth of investment into British datacentres.
On Tuesday, Google said it would pump £5bn into capital expenditure, research and development, and related engineering over the next two years, which would include “pioneering” AI research in science and healthcare through its Google DeepMind operation.
The Silicon Valley company said the investment would help the UK grow its AI economy and contribute to technological breakthroughs, improvements in cybersecurity and job creation.
Google predicted the investment would help to create 8,250 jobs annually at UK businesses.
Reeves will officially open the company’s first UK datacentre in Waltham Cross on Tuesday, amid growing demand for Google’s Cloud, Workspace, Search and Maps services.
Google said it would partner with Shell to help it manage its renewable energy supply in the UK.
