U.S. tech giant Oracle said it will invest $5 billion in Britain over the next five years to meet the “rapidly growing demand for its cloud services” in the country.
The software firm said its investment will expand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s (OCI) footprint in the U.K. and help the British government deliver on its vision for AI innovation and adoption.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had vowed in January to transform the U.K. into “one of the great AI superpowers” as part of its plan to boost growth and deliver services more efficiently. He said the technology could increase the U.K.’s productivity by 1.5% a year, potentially adding £47 billion ($58 billion) to the economy each year over a decade.
“The U.K. is determined to lead the world in AI innovation,” said technology secretary Peter Kyle.
He said the $5 billion investment will provide businesses and the public sector with “cutting-edge cloud infrastructure” that would drive productivity, enhance security, and unlock new opportunities for growth.
“By working with global tech leaders like Oracle, we’re cementing the UK’s position at the forefront of the AI revolution,” Kyle added.
The U.K. government is continuing to negotiate with the Trump administration for a trade agreement with the U.S. Starmer flew to Washington last month to discuss the matter with the President, who said at the time there was a “very good chance” they could reach a deal.
Oracle’s billionaire cofounder Larry Ellison has been a longtime supporter of Trump, dating back to his first term in office. Ellison is also a personal friend of presidential adviser Elon Musk.
In January, Trump described Ellison an “amazing man” who is more than just a tech executive, “he’s sort of CEO of everything.”
Ellison was in the White House appearing alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, when the President unveiled an agreement between their respective firms that aims to expand AI infrastructure in the U.S. The partnership, dubbed “Stargate,” begins with an immediate investment of $100 billion that will likely expand to $500 billion over four years.
Last week, Oracle reported earnings results that fell short of market expectations, when the firm said its fiscal third-quarter revenue came in at $14.1 billion, a 6% jump from the same period a year earlier. Net income rose 22% to $2.9 billion.
The software giant projected revenue will grow 15% in the fiscal year beginning in June and 20% in fiscal year 2027. Oracle’s cloud infrastructure business is continuing to benefit from strong demand for computing power to run AI workloads.
“We are on schedule to double our data center capacity this calendar year,” said Ellison. “Customer demand is at record levels. Our Database MultiCloud revenue from Microsoft, Google and Amazon is up 92% in the last three months alone.”
Ellison is the world’s fourth-richest person with an estimated net worth of $189 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list. He serves as the chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle, the software giant he cofounded in 1977. He stepped down as Oracle’s CEO in 2014 after 37 years at the helm.