Nvidia chief pledges to make Britain an AI leader with $40bn Arm deal

“We all know that AI is so important today and that its future impact in healthcare, in transportation, in local markets and society is so great that no great nation can afford to be left behind in this,” he said. 

Nvidia’s chips are best known for computer graphics but are increasingly used for AI purposes. Earlier this year, a supercomputer in Japan, built using Arm-based processor designs, was declared the world’s fastest. Huang said only the combination of the two companies could produce what he is planning. “It’s going to be a mighty computer, it’s going to be magnificent. I think that this is just an extraordinary opportunity, and I think they [ministers] will see it and they will be equally excited about it.” 

In theory, the idea is that the world’s computer scientists will flock to Cambridge in the way they do to Stanford today. In addition to the supercomputer Nvidia said it would expand its own footprint in the country, launching research initiatives in areas like robotics and driverless cars and invest further in its start-up investment programme in Britain.

In doing so, Huang seeks to flip perception of the deal to Nvidia – at $300bn, America’s most valuable chip company – setting up in the UK, rather than taking Arm away from it. 

“Until now we really haven’t had a position or footprint in the UK. Now we have the ultimate footprint in the UK,” Huang said. “It’s an exciting vision for helping to elevate the UK into one of the innovation hubs for AI in the world.”

Having a vision is one thing, but the Government has said it will “not hesitate to investigate” if it believes a deal would have a significant impact on the UK and ministers have legal powers to intervene under 2002’s Enterprise Act. 

Arm is legally bound to increase staff numbers until next October, a result of the 2016 SoftBank deal, and while Nvidia has said it plans to grow in Britain, it has not made any concrete commitment on job numbers after that.