Microsoft has pledged a £22bn investment in the UK's artificial intelligence (AI) sector – the tech giant’s largest investment outside the US.

Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft

The investment forms part of a wave of US cash flowing into the UK in a cross-Atlantic Tech Prosperity Deal that the government said would total £31bn.

The deal, announced as part of US president Donald Trump’s state visit, will see America’s top technology and investment firms – including Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI and BlackRock – invest in AI infrastructure and research across the UK.

“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,” said prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“By teaming up with world-class companies from both the UK and the US, we’re laying the foundations for a future where together we are world leaders in the technology of tomorrow.”

Microsoft chair and chief executive Satya Nadella said: “We’re committed to creating new opportunity for people and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, and to ensuring America remains a trusted and reliable tech partner for the UK.”

Microsoft is stumping up its largest-ever financial investment in the UK to build out the UK’s cloud and AI infrastructure and build the country’s largest supercomputer, with more than 23,000 advanced GPUs.

Google this week opened a data centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, as part of a two-year £5bn investment in the UK. As well as real estate assets, Google will also fund research and development.

AI cloud computing company CoreWeave will invest £1.5bn in AI data centres, Salesforce has announced an additional £1.4bn in investment in its UK business through 2030 and BlackRock is investing £500m into enterprise data centres across the country.

Leading tech firms OpenAI and NVIDIA have pledged to invest billions in new data centres and the UK’s AI start-up scene.

NVIDIA founder and chief executive Jensen Huang said: “Today marks a historic chapter in US-UK technology collaboration. We are at the big bang of the AI era – and the UK stands in a Goldilocks position, where world-class talent, research and industry converge.”

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, added: “The UK has been a longstanding pioneer of AI, and is now home to world-class researchers, millions of ChatGPT users and a government that quickly recognised the potential of this technology.

“This partnership reflects our shared vision that with the right infrastructure in place, AI can expand opportunity for people and businesses across the UK.”