- Google’s £5bn investment will fund AI R&D, engineering, and capital projects, including the opening of a new data centre near London, and aims to create 8,250 new jobs annually in UK businesses.
- Part of the investment includes a partnership with Shell to support renewable energy supply, with Google seeking to operate at or near 95% carbon-free energy in the UK by 2026.
What happened: Google unveils £5bn UK AI push with new data centre ahead of Trump visit
In addition to announcing a £5 billion investment in the UK over the next two years to increase its artificial intelligence capabilities, Google/Alphabet opened a new data center in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, about 19 km north of London, on September 16, 2025, to meet the company’s increasing demand for services like Google Cloud, Workspace, Search, and Maps.
The investment covers various domains: capital expenditure (capex), engineering, research & development, and includes the UK-based AI lab DeepMind, particularly in science and healthcare sectors. Google claims the initiative will create approximately 8,250 jobs per year across British businesses.
Environmental aspects feature in the plan: the new data centre uses air-cooling technology to reduce water usage, processes to reuse waste heat to serve local homes or businesses, and Google states its UK operations will reach roughly 95% carbon-free energy by 2026. A deal was also struck with Shell for managing Google’s clean energy supply in the UK.
The timing is notable: the announcement comes just ahead of President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, during which more than US$10 billion in business deals between the UK and US are anticipated.
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Why it’s important
- Economic signal & political context: The £5bn pledge acts as a strong signal of confidence in the UK economy, both from the private sector and in the broader UK-US relationship. For Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, it is a welcome economic boost at a time when attracting private investment is high on the agenda.
- Jobs, skills, and regional growth: The promise of over 8,000 jobs annually could help in communities around the data centre locations and in the AI ecosystem more broadly. It underscores UK’s strength in AI talent, especially through DeepMind and other research partnerships. However, whether all these jobs will materialise, and whether they will be well-distributed geographically, remains to be seen.
- Energy & environmental trade-offs: Google’s approach seeks to mitigate environmental impact through clean energy commitments and heat reuse. Yet there are questions about the broader environmental cost of scaling AI infrastructure (power, water usage, local infrastructure). It is ambitious to operate at nearly 95% carbon-free, but doing so will need overcoming obstacles including grid capacity, planning approval, and renewable energy supplies.
- Strategic and diplomatic dimension: Timing the announcement to coincide with President Trump’s visit implies a diplomatic coordination of technology investment as part of bilateral relations, potentially with the goal of establishing the UK as a major AI infrastructure ally. Concerns about data sovereignty, regulatory preparedness, and the degree of autonomy the UK maintains when big internet companies invest heavily in infrastructure are all brought up.
