Google’s £5 billion investment and Trump’s pro-UK stance is good news for British tech
This week’s announcement by Google that it is to invest £5 billion in its artificial intelligence capabilities in the UK is undoubtedly positive news for the government ahead of Donald Trump’s state visit.
Given 2025 has been dominated by tech giants trumpeting their investment in the US, it is pleasing to see the UK remains a natural home for diversifying investments, and this deal underscores many reasons why Google has chosen the UK, says Ben Barringer (Global head of Technology Research at Quilter Cheviot).
Barringer adds that the UK has a strong internet penetration rate as well as established e-commerce markets, so any investment in AI in the UK is somewhat of a sensible option for these tech companies.
“It is worth noting that this is a small investment in the context of Google’s $85 billion capex spend, but nevertheless, it is a good test bed given the AI expertise in the country and it will be interesting to see where the investment is deployed and how it is used, particularly given the advancements to date of DeepMind. Clearly having established businesses in the tech market, like DeepMind, matters greatly.
“This is the beginning of a run of announcements from US tech giants during the state visit, and it is good to see the UK is being prioritised. Clearly Donald Trump has a close affinity for the UK, and it is right for the government to leverage this to produce such investment, particularly given the UK’s scale in the tech landscape.”
While it can never rival the likes of the US and China, the UK needs to leverage that AI expertise to gain a foothold as the next best market for these tech titans, said Barringer.
“All of this sort of investment, while small in the grand scheme of things, is incremental and does add up. London remains part of the European tech hub alongside Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, but it cannot rest on its laurels as a global financial centre.
“More tech investment like this should be lauded and welcomed, highlighting that the UK is open for business despite its recent challenges,” he said.
