Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia, at the London Tech Week exposition in London, UK, on Monday, June 9, 2025.
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Nvidia and OpenAI are in discussions about backing a major investment in Britain focused on boosting artificial intelligence infrastructure in the country.
The two tech firms are discussing a sizable deal to support data center development in the country which could ultimately be worth billions of dollars, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC, confirming earlier reporting from the Financial Times.
The companies are still working through various processes at the moment with Nvidia and cloud computing firm Nscale, said the person, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
They added that an investment agreement has not yet been finalized. It is expected to be unveiled next week during U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K.
Nvidia and Nscale did did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. OpenAI declined to comment on the discussions.
Countries around the world have been courting major U.S. AI players in a bid to boost their own national infrastructure and technological ambitions.
The topic of so-called “sovereign” AI — the idea of onshoring the data processing infrastructure behind advanced artificial intelligence systems — has been top of mind for officials as governments look to reduce their dependency on foreign countries for critical technologies.
The U.K. government declined to comment when asked by CNBC about the investment discussions with OpenAI, Nvidia and Nscale. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to join Trump on his state visit to Britain next week.
Earlier this year, the Nvidia boss called the U.K. an “incredible place to invest” and said his multitrillion-dollar chipmaker would boost investment in the country. “The U.K. is in a Goldilocks circumstance,” Huang said at the time in a panel discussion with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
