UK AI sector attracts £200 million per day in private sector investment since July 2024
An average of £200 million in private sector investment has been funnelled into the UK’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector each day since July 2024 – an average of more than £8.3 million every hour – fuelling the Plan for Change to fix the foundations of the economy.
More than £14 billion pounds worth of investment into the UK and thousands of new jobs have been confirmed in just 48 hours since the AI Opportunities Action Plan was published, as companies from around the world back Britain’s new blueprint to ensure it can fully realise the opportunities of artificial intelligence.
It follows £25 billion worth of new investment into the UK’s data centre infrastructure announced at the Global Investment Summit earlier this year, bringing the total to £39 billion in the last six months.
Cementing the UK’s position as a global destination for AI, a wave of global companies have put their weight behind the UK’s new vision for the technology.
In a move to bolster the UK’s AI infrastructure, American AI cloud-computing company CoreWeave has set to work using cutting edge NVIDIA technology to ramp up the UK’s compute capacity – a key pillar of the government’s new vision for AI. They are doing this at their Data Centre sites in Crawley and London Docklands – their first bases in the UK – rolling out a new compute platform by delivering state-of-the-art processors through its specialized cloud platform, purpose-built to provide highly performant and efficient infrastructure for AI workloads. This has opened up a new world of processing power to Britain’s innovators, and follows the company’s decision to base its European Headquarters in London and invest £1.75 billion into the UK in 2024.
Putting the right building blocks in place to help British companies scale up and become AI leaders is also central to the new blueprint set out by the government. Synthesia – a London based company which is the market leader in software for AI-generated video content – are the latest to be riding this wave of momentum with a successful funding round which has seen their value swell to $2.1 billion. This investment will support Synthesia’s growth and expansion ambitions, as it aims to become one of Britain’s most valuable AI companies.
Secretary of State for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Peter Kyle said, “This week we begin a new chapter – putting AI in the driving seat to power the government’s Plan for Change and deliver better lives for everyone in the country.
“The steps we’re taking forward from Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan represent a step change in how the UK manages this technology – unlocking a fresh start for our economy and for working people.
“By attracting more than £14 billion in new investment and thousands of fresh jobs since unveiling our new blueprint from companies across the globe, the message is clear – the UK’s pull as a magnet for AI innovation and growth will only go from strength to strength,” Kyle ended.
Supporting the government’s laser-focus of spreading the benefits of AI across the economy, Tech Nation – part of Founders Forum group – Merantix, and Onfido Founder Husayn Kassai, in partnership with Techspace, have also committed to launching a new dedicated AI hub in London. The London AI Hub will serve as a new epicentre for collaboration and innovation based in Farringdon. Creating a vital focal point for AI innovators to come together and collaborate, companies are now set to move into the Hub from next month.
