Amazon makes £8 billion UK investment to build cloud and AI infrastructure

Amazon makes £8 billion UK investment to build cloud and AI infrastructure


Amazon’s computing unit AWS is in talks with Italy to invest billions of euros in the expansion of its data center business in the country as part of the tech giant’s effort to boost its cloud offer in Europe, four people familiar with the matter said.

Cesc Maymo | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON — Amazon Web Services (AWS), the U.S. e-commerce giant’s cloud division, announced plans to invest £8 billion ($10.45 billion) over the next five years to build and operate data centers in the U.K. as it ramps up its cloud computing efforts in the country.

The investment, announced early Wednesday London time, comes as cloud players talk up the benefits of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and as companies look to integrate the tech into their businesses.

“We’ve seen a real uptake of cloud computing and AI technology by British businesses, and we know the U.K. has a very ambitious digital plan,” Tanuja Randery, managing director for European, Middle East and Africa at AWS, told CNBC in an interview.

“So this will go toward helping our customers to really be able to harness cloud computing, because you need the data centers to be able to actually provide cloud computing for our customers.”

AWS executive discusses the company's chip and cloud development, cost optimization

Randery said generative AI is “probably the most transformative technology we have seen, possibly since the cloud and the internet” and that businesses are currently trialing the nascent tech.

“We’ve also seen that businesses are looking at this in terms of both revenue growth, employee productivity, which is really, really critical, as you know, but also being able to compete globally.”

AWS, along with other cloud players, has been investing heavily in infrastructure, such as data centers and Nvidia chips, in order to train and run AI models. These cloud players then sell AI services to businesses.

AWS competes with Microsoft and Google in the U.K. and its investment continues the company’s focus on expansion in Europe. AWS said this year it plans to invest 8.8 billion euros in existing cloud infrastructure in Germany.

Entire value of Amazon can be justified by just AWS, says D.A. Davidson's Luria

But this investment also comes at a time when regulators in the U.K. are scrutinizing competition in the cloud market with AWS and Microsoft under the microscope. The Competitions and Markets Authority is currently looking into the the U.K. cloud market.

Randery said AWS is “working very constructively” with the CMA but that authorities need to balance regulation and innovation.

“We worked very closely with governments and regulators around the world, we believe that it’s important to have regulation, but that regulation should continue to be innovation friendly,” Randery told CNBC.

 



Source

Nvidia’s China-bound H20 AI chips face Beijing scrutiny over ‘tracking’ and security concerns
Technology

Nvidia’s China-bound H20 AI chips face Beijing scrutiny over ‘tracking’ and security concerns

China is one of Nvidia’s largest markets, particularly for data centers, gaming and artificial intelligence applications. Avishek Das | Lightrocket | Getty Images While Nvidia has been given assurances by Washington that it will be allowed to resume exports of its made-for-China H20 general processing units, the AI chips’ return may be met with increased […]

Read More
Elon Musk’s plan to build Boring Co. tunnels in Nashville sparks partisan feud
Technology

Elon Musk’s plan to build Boring Co. tunnels in Nashville sparks partisan feud

Elon Musk has expanded a number of his companies within Texas, including Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Co. and Neuralink. Tesla broke ground on a lithium refinery in Texas earlier this year with Governor Greg Abbott in attendance. Christophe Gateau | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Elon Musk’s tunneling venture, The Boring Company, announced plans earlier […]

Read More
Samsung second-quarter profit more than halves, missing expectations, weighed by slump in chip business
Technology

Samsung second-quarter profit more than halves, missing expectations, weighed by slump in chip business

Samsung signage during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in San Jose, California, US, on Thursday, March 20, 2025. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a second-quarter operating profit of 4.7 trillion Korean won that missed expectations, weighed by U.S. export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China. […]

Read More