Investment Summit secures £63 billion and thousands of tech jobs

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt among speakers

Investment Summit showcased the opportunities that the UK holds for international investors in tech, as well as airing a few of the likely challenges.

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday promised to “rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment” as the government hosted hundreds of business executives in a major summit designed to showcase the governments ambitions to make the UK a welcoming environment for international investors.

In her closing speech, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a total of £63 billion of private investment was committed around the event.

Much of this investment was technical in nature. Four US based tech firms (CyrusOne, ServiceNow, Cloud HQ and CoreWeave) have announced that the UK will be home to their datacentre infrastructure worth a combined £6.3 billion.

In addition, Imperial College London announced a £150 million investment to secure a new R&D campus to add to its rapidly expanding deeptech ecosystem in West London. The new campus will expand scale-up capacity in the West Tech Corridor.

Further investment was announced around life sciences, infrastructure and renewable energy.

One of the set pieces of the day was an on-stage interview of both Sir Keir Starmer and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The latter challenged the Prime Minister on the UK’s sclerotic planning system.

“Democracies have so many ways in which people can say no…the cost of capital and the delay is killing you and furthermore you are not going to achieve you 2030 energy goal which is laudable without fixing this.”

The end of this exchange hasn’t been widely reported, but Schmidt expressed faith that the UK would find a way through this.

The potential of AI

Schmidt spent some time expounding the virtues of AI and its potential for improving productivity, both inside and outside of the public sector. He said:

“That intelligence makes us smarter and more effective as humans and the world becomes more efficient. I can’t prove it but my opinion is that each and every one of us will become twice as productive.”

“Done right these technologies can make government services more targeted, with fewer errors and more efficient. If you add that at the scale your country is at the saving are massive.”

Interestingly, Schmidt alluded to the vast amount of money being hosed at companies with no demonstrable product “or hope” but did point out that:

“The consequences of this is an enormous wave of investment that will benefit each and every industry by making it more efficient and more successful. The income of humans goes up and not down in this scenario.”

Schmidt also emphasised the edge that the UK has as a leader in AI ethics and safety.

“The UK a year ago established the core structure of AI safety and security. This is an example of where the UK system has the strongest civil servants who are smarter and more committed to this and who are frankly stable and as a result you can work with them. There’s every reason that the UK can not only help innovate and build this but also deal with the guard rail issues. There’s a reason why we started in the UK first.”

Environmental impact

The discussion covered the difficult question of the environmental impact of datacentres, and the huge amount of energy that training AI models consumes. Earlier this month Schmidt seemed to imply that it was pointless to chase short term climate goals and that we should bet the planet on AI finding a way to improve energy efficiency and ultimately reduce harmful emissions.

“The demand for energy for datacentres is massive. We need you to approve the necessary steps to make these datacentres in Britain because your research scientists, your companies, your citizens all need these things.”

“Invest in AI and as a result the solutions to the energy transition become apparent much quicker.”

Russ Shaw CBE, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates greeted the summit positively but emphasised the need for sustained effort.

“Bringing influential business leaders and investors to London sends a strong signal that the UK is open for business. The country boasts world-class sectors, particularly in renewable energy, technology and critical infrastructure. The £24 billion deal with Iberdrola and £6.3 billion in investments from four global tech firms into UK datacentres are clear evidence of the UK’s economic strengths.

“However, sustaining this momentum is essential. The government must ensure that engaging with investors and delivering clear strategies for emerging technologies remains a continuous priority, not just a one-off initiative.

“Attracting investment is vital, but so is addressing the current skills gap in the UK. If former Google Chief Eric Schmidt's prediction that AI will make people twice as productive is to be realised, this gap must be urgently closed. This will require both upskilling and reskilling the British workforce through digital training for the jobs of tomorrow, as well as attracting world-class talent from overseas to fill key gaps currently holding back the tech sector."

The importance of attracting world class talent was something Schmidt also raised (also not widely reported) emphasising the immense difficulty inherent in reconciling the apparent political unpopularity of immigration to the UK with the economic necessity of it.

Schmidt said:

“A pro-growth agenda would start with high-skilled immigration, which is now in place here and should be expanded.”

James Codling, Managing Partner at Volution commented from a tech VC perspective, and also emphasised the importance of a coherent immigration strategy.

“There is a strong national interest in realising the potential of our scale-up ecosystem and making the UK a global leader in technology. To do this will require much closer collaboration between the venture community and the government to cultivate an environment that not only attracts foreign investment but also drives innovation and prosperity for all.”

“Also crucial is ensuring that the UK is actively encouraging the brightest minds to contribute to our economy. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was absolutely right in his session at the Summit that “a pro-growth agenda starts with high-skilled immigration” - the government need only look at recent economic growth in the likes of the UAE or Singapore for proof of the benefits of attracting world-leading talent, rather than discouraging them through restrictive measures.”