Besides the launching of a $10 billion lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), U.S. President Donald Trump may have also blown up the highly acclaimed “tech prosperity deal” with the U.K. It was much celebrated in September as the centerpiece accomplishment during Trump’s state visit to Britain and his hobnobbing with King Charles III. However, on Dec. 15, Trump suspended the agreement with the U.K., in what is reported as a major setback in the plans of King Charles and Sir Keir Starmer to tie the two countries closer together.
The September deal had covered nuclear energy, quantum computing, and AI deals, in tandem with private sector investments of £31 billion from Silicon Valley behemoths. Microsoft announced £22 billion in British data centers and an AI supercomputer. Other major commitments included offers from Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI. If the U.S. federal commitment is not restored, it is not clear whether those private sector commitments will go forward.
