NVIDIA announced the UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum on June 8, 2025, during London Tech Week, supporting Prime Minister Keir Starmer's vision for Britain to be an "AI maker, not an AI taker." The initiative unites leading UK businesses including founding members Babcock, BAE Systems, BT, National Grid, and Standard Chartered, to strengthen economic security by advancing sovereign AI infrastructure and accelerating UK AI startup ecosystem growth.
UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle stated: "We have big plans when it comes to developing the next wave of AI innovations here in the U.K. — not only so we can deliver the economic growth needed for our Plan for Change, but maintain our position as a global leader. Central to that is making sure we have the infrastructure to power AI, so I welcome NVIDIA setting up the U.K. Sovereign AI Industry Forum."
Economic analysis released by Public First shows regions with more AI and data centre infrastructure demonstrate stronger economic growth. A modest increase in AI data centre capacity could add nearly £5 billion to national economic output, while doubling access could raise annual benefits to £36.5 billion. The UK leads Europe in newly funded AI startups and total private AI investment through 2024, backed by over $28 billion in private investment since 2013.
Cloud provider Nscale have committed to deploying 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs by end of 2026, while Nebius launched its first UK AI factory with 4,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs online to power UK research, academia, and public services including the NHS. A new NVIDIA AI Technology Centre will provide hands-on training in AI, data science, and accelerated computing, focusing on foundation model builders, embodied AI, materials science, and earth systems modelling.
The Financial Conduct Authority will provide an AI-powered digital sandbox for safe financial services innovation, with infrastructure from NayaOne and NVIDIA platform support. Barclays Eagle Labs launched an Innovation Hub in London for AI and deep tech startups, with NVIDIA supporting pathways to the NVIDIA Inception programme.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology announced collaboration with NVIDIA to promote AI development in telecoms, providing leading UK universities access to AI tools, 6G research platforms, and training resources for AI-native wireless networks research.
The JADE consortium comprising 20 universities and the Turing Institute uses NVIDIA technologies for AI development and safety. University College London develops digital twin human body models, while University of Bristol's Isambard-AI supercomputer built on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips powers AI safety and climate modelling research. Major corporations including BT, LSEG, and NatWest are implementing AI for autonomous operations, data insights, and customer protection.
The UK's sovereign AI strategy positions the nation to capture significant economic value while maintaining technological independence. The £36.5 billion potential economic benefit justifies substantial infrastructure investment, while partnerships with major UK enterprises ensure practical AI deployment across critical sectors. NVIDIA's comprehensive approach spanning infrastructure, training, and startup support establishes the company as the primary AI technology partner for UK digital sovereignty initiatives.