• Microsoft is opening a new AI hub in London as the talent war heats up.
  • The hub will collaborate with Microsoft’s other AI teams and partners including OpenAI.
  • The London hub will build off of the company’s £2.5 billion, or $3.2 billion, investment to support AI infrastructure and AI talent development.

Microsoft is expanding its AI efforts in the UK with a new AI hub in London, focused on product development and research.

Microsoft AI in London

Microsoft AI London will focus on developing state-of-the-art language models and the infrastructure to support them, as well as “creating world-class tools for the underlying models”, Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft AI executive vice president, and CEO, said in a statement.

The unit will be led by Mustafa Suleyman, the London-born cofounder of Google DeepMind which Microsoft hired last month, and collaborate with Microsoft’s other AI teams and partners including OpenAI.

The move also represents a win for Britain, which has sought to bolster its credentials as a technology superpower since hosting the world’s first global AI safety summit in November.

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Why choose London

“As a British citizen, born and raised in London, I’m proud to have co-founded and built a cutting-edge AI business here,” Suleyman said in a statement. “I’m deeply aware of the extraordinary talent pool and AI ecosystem in the U.K., and I’m excited to make this commitment to the U.K. on behalf of Microsoft A,” he added.

Suleyman said it will invest £2.5 billion (US$3.2 billion) to support AI infrastructure and AI talent development and expects to bring 20,000 state-of-the-art chips to the UK by 2026.