London: US technology company CoreWeave, a provider of cloud computing services for artificial intelligence, said on Friday it will pump 1.0 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) into the UK, the last major investment in artificial intelligence in the country.
CoreWeave said in a statement that it has already opened its European headquarters in London as part of its plan for the UK, where it will also establish two data centers next year, with further expansion planned for 2025.
“We see unprecedented demand for AI infrastructure, and London is an vital AI hub in which we are investing,” said Mike Intrator, co-founder and CEO of CoreWeave.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the news, which he said “further cements the UK’s position as an artificial intelligence and technology superpower.”
“We are committed to making the UK the best place for pioneering companies like CoreWeave to put down their roots,” he noted, adding that the UK has the third-largest number of artificial intelligence companies and private investment in the world.
CoreWeave, whose investors include, among others, semiconductor giant Nvidia, was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Up-to-date Jersey. According to media reports, it is valued at approximately $19 billion.
Friday’s announcement came two days after British tech startup Wayve revealed that it had raised a record amount of nearly $1.1 billion led by Japan’s SoftBank to develop artificial intelligence systems for autonomous vehicles.
Wayve, a pioneer of artificial intelligence embedded in vehicles, has also secured money from US tech giant Microsoft and Nvidia.
In further support for the UK, data infrastructure company Scale AI said it has chosen London as the location for its first European headquarters.
