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What's new in the tech deal with Washington and what will it mean for the British economy?
The Guardian
|September 18, 2025
Donald Trump’s arrival has been followed by a multibillion-dollar transatlantic tech deal.
The announcement features some of the biggest names from Silicon Valley: the chipmaker Nvidia; the ChatGPT developer, OpenAI; and Microsoft. Big numbers are involved, with Microsoft hailing its $30bn (£22bn) investment as a major commitment to the UK - and adding, in an apparent swipe at its rivals, that it was not making “empty tech promises”. Here is a breakdown of the announcements in the UK-US “tech prosperity deal”, spelling out what is explicitly new in them.
Microsoft invests $30bn in UK
Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, hailed the “single biggest announcement” in the pact and insisted it was not an empty promise. The $30bn sets out the company’s UK budget over the next four years and refers not just to artificial intelligence infrastructure but also “ongoing operations” across the UK.
Microsoft said the number included $15bn in capital expenditure - such as on equipment, land and buildings - for AI and cloud services, areas where datacentres are key components. The other half will go on day-to-day operations such as research, sales and product development.
This story is from the September 18, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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