The governments of the UK and US have signed a tech partnership, which they say is designed to boost the UK’s capabilities in areas including digital infrastructure.

As part of the announcement, a second AI Growth Zone – areas of the UK where data center developments will be incentivized – will be established in the north east of England. Investments in UK AI infrastructure by US companies totaling £31 billion ($42bn) have also been set out this week.

Ministers from both countries revealed details of the deal, dubbed the US-UK Tech Prosperity Deal, to coincide with US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, which gets underway today.

Tech prosperity deal could boost nuclear

Under the deal, the UK and US will put joint resources and expertise into making emerging technologies a shared success for British and American people, a UK government statement said.

This will include the application of AI and quantum technologies across areas such as life science, defense, and the space industry, though details of how this will work in practice are vague.

A civil nuclear deal promises to “slash red tape and speed up the delivery of nuclear projects.” Many data center operators in the US, as well as markets such as France, are looking to nuclear energy to meet their soaring power needs, but the UK has yet to follow suit, in part because it possesses a relatively small estate of nuclear reactors.

Several nuclear deals between the US and UK were revealed earlier this week, and the government claims these were enabled by the partnership.

Google’s DeepMind AI division, which was founded in the UK before being acquired by the search giant, will work with both governments to advise on how scientists can harness the latest AI tools in their work – as well as continuing their partnership with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to advance fusion energy research in the US and UK.

A string of data center-related investments have also been confirmed this week, including a £5bn ($6.9bn) Google deal, a $678m BlackRock venture, a new Vantage facility, and OpenAI’s Stargate UK.

CoreWeave says it is investing £1.5 billion ($2bn) in UK AI data center capacity and operations.

Microsoft has committed an additional $15bn to UK AI infrastructure over the next three years, including the construction of the nation’s most powerful supercomputer.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “This Tech Prosperity Deal marks a generational step change in our relationship with the US, shaping the futures of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic, and delivering growth, security, and opportunity up and down the country.

“By teaming-up with world-class companies from both the UK and US, we’re laying the foundations for a future where together we are world leaders in the technology of tomorrow, creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets and ensuring this partnership benefits every corner of the United Kingdom.”

The partnership has been endorsed by a host of tech luminaries, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who said: “We are at the Big Bang of the AI era – and the United Kingdom stands in a Goldilocks position, where world-class talent, research, and industry converge.

“By building state-of-the-art AI infrastructure and investing in British startups, we are unlocking the power of AI for the U.K. – fuelling breakthroughs, creating jobs, and igniting the next industrial revolution.”

AI Growth Zone coming to the north east

The north east of England will become the UK’s second AI Growth Zone, meaning companies looking to build data centers and other AI infrastructure will benefit from a host of incentives as well as expedited access to power.

AI Growth Zone status has been handed to the area around Blyth and Cobalt Park near Newcastle, which the government claims could become one of Europe’s largest data center hubs.

Blackstone has already committed to building a £10 billion ($13.3bn) hyperscale data center in Blyth through its QTS subsidiary, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology says the AI Growth Zone designation could unlock a further £20 billion investment in the site, without going into detail on how this would happen and where the money would come from.

Cobalt Park is home to the Stellium Data Centers campus. The colo firm currently four runs 4MW data halls, says the site can offer up to 80MW, and is designed to scale to 180MW.

OpenAI and Nscale will use Cobalt Park to deploy part of its Stargate UK data center infrastructure, the government announcement said.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “Today’s announcement of an AI Growth Zone places the North East at the forefront of the next technology revolution and will lead to billions of pounds of new investment in our region, thousands of better jobs and new opportunities for local people.

“I want kids in school here today to see their place in an AI-driven future. We know AI will be transformative for our economy, but this is how we make sure it also provides a new future for our young people, by working with business to create training and apprenticeship routes into this fast-growing sector on a whole new scale.

The UK government revealed plans for AI Growth Zones earlier this year, with Culham in Oxfordshire the first area to receive the designation. Up to 500MW of power will be available at each zone for data center projects.

It had been rumored that Teeside, another part of the north east, would be the next AI Growth Zone, but it has not been included in the announcement.