LONDON (Realist English). Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, are expected to announce a major artificial intelligence infrastructure investment in the UK next week as they join U.S. President Donald Trump on his state visit, according to people familiar with the plans.
The initiative will focus on building new data centres in Britain that could ultimately be worth billions of dollars, part of a wave of international deals this year to establish “sovereign” AI infrastructure for U.S. allies.
Under the plan, the UK government would provide the energy, OpenAI would supply access to its AI models and tools, and Nvidia would deliver its advanced chips to power the systems. Sources cautioned that final details of the investment were still being negotiated.
Nvidia has seen surging demand for its AI processors from national governments, beyond its traditional Big Tech clients. In August, the company forecast that “sovereign” agreements could generate more than $20 billion in revenue in 2025. Huang has argued that governments must develop domestic AI computing capacity to secure data, reduce reliance on U.S. hyperscalers such as Microsoft and Amazon, and capture the economic benefits of the technology.
The move follows similar global initiatives. In May, Altman and Huang accompanied Trump to the Gulf, where Saudi Arabia and the UAE pledged billions in public-private partnerships to make the region an AI hub. The EU earlier this year launched a €20 billion fund to mobilize €200 billion in AI “gigafactory” investments.
Huang met UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in June, when Starmer promised £1 billion in new spending to expand Britain’s AI computing power. At the time, Huang warned the UK lacked sufficient digital infrastructure to compete in the race to build an independent AI industry.
Altman and Huang have also forged close ties with Trump. In January, Altman stood alongside the president at the White House to announce Stargate, a $500 billion U.S. data centre project backed by SoftBank, Oracle and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. The initiative has since struck overseas deals in Norway and the UAE.
Reports in April suggested OpenAI was exploring UK data centre investments. Bloomberg first reported that OpenAI and Nvidia plan to announce the deal next week. Both companies declined to comment, while the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
