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Wow – the UK is supposed to be benefiting from a £31 billion “Tech Prosperity Deal”, timed to coincide with Donald Trump’s state visit. But will we?
Microsoft will invest £22 billion in AI infrastructure, including a new supercomputer in Essex. Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and others are also pledging billions.
But scratch the surface and the picture is far less rosy.
Despite the headlines about economic growth and “highly skilled jobs,” the direct financial benefit to the UK is minimal.
The bulk of the investment is in private-sector infrastructure, research, and hardware — not cash handed to the Treasury for the prosperity of the nation.
Payroll taxes from new jobs and business rates may trickle in, but this will amount to a fraction of the billions being invested.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other tech bosses are painting AI as a miracle for UK GDP, comparing it to the rise of the personal computer.
But there is no guarantee of better pay for UK programmers or protections for public funds.
The Digital Services Tax — which raises around £800m a year from US tech firms — was explicitly excluded from the deal.
Meanwhile, the energy costs of massive data centres are likely to be borne by UK taxpayers or the national grid, even as US companies reap the profits.
Groups like Foxglove have warned that the UK could end up footing the bill for the “colossal amounts of power” AI infrastructure requires.
So this deal is great news for Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI, but the real gains for ordinary UK citizens are limited – if there are indeed any at all.
Thousands of high-skilled jobs will be created, yes — but that represents a tiny slice of the population, concentrated in certain regions.
The Treasury sees only a trickle from the investment, while the hype suggests a windfall that simply isn’t coming.
The government’s messaging frames this as a technological breakthrough and a job creation miracle.
The reality is a financial bonanza for US investors, falsely dressed up as a UK economic triumph.
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£22 billion AI deal: big hype for little gain
Share this post:
Wow – the UK is supposed to be benefiting from a £31 billion “Tech Prosperity Deal”, timed to coincide with Donald Trump’s state visit. But will we?
Microsoft will invest £22 billion in AI infrastructure, including a new supercomputer in Essex. Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and others are also pledging billions.
But scratch the surface and the picture is far less rosy.
Despite the headlines about economic growth and “highly skilled jobs,” the direct financial benefit to the UK is minimal.
The bulk of the investment is in private-sector infrastructure, research, and hardware — not cash handed to the Treasury for the prosperity of the nation.
Payroll taxes from new jobs and business rates may trickle in, but this will amount to a fraction of the billions being invested.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other tech bosses are painting AI as a miracle for UK GDP, comparing it to the rise of the personal computer.
But there is no guarantee of better pay for UK programmers or protections for public funds.
The Digital Services Tax — which raises around £800m a year from US tech firms — was explicitly excluded from the deal.
Meanwhile, the energy costs of massive data centres are likely to be borne by UK taxpayers or the national grid, even as US companies reap the profits.
Groups like Foxglove have warned that the UK could end up footing the bill for the “colossal amounts of power” AI infrastructure requires.
So this deal is great news for Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI, but the real gains for ordinary UK citizens are limited – if there are indeed any at all.
Thousands of high-skilled jobs will be created, yes — but that represents a tiny slice of the population, concentrated in certain regions.
The Treasury sees only a trickle from the investment, while the hype suggests a windfall that simply isn’t coming.
The government’s messaging frames this as a technological breakthrough and a job creation miracle.
The reality is a financial bonanza for US investors, falsely dressed up as a UK economic triumph.
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