London’s status as Europe’s foremost centre of excellence for artificial intelligence got a boost today after Microsoft unveiled plans for a major new AI hub in Paddington.
The tech giant said it will begin hiring scientists and engineers for the hub, which will pioneer work to develop language models and their supporting infrastructure, and create tools for foundation models.
The move forms part of Microsoft’s £2.5 billion investment proposals for the UK, which will also including bringing 20,000 of the most advanced graphic processors or GPUs to the country by 2026.
It adds Microsoft to a growing list of large tech firms who have set up significant AI units in the capital amid an explosion of interest in the technology from investors and consumers. Last year, ChatGPT maker Open AI established its first overseas office in London, while US firm C3.ai relocated its European headquarters from Paris to London and billion-dollar American drug discovery business Recursion set up an AI unit in Kings Cross. An Evening Standard analysis found that the UK’s top AI entrepreneurs had amassed personal fortunes worth more than £3 billion by the end of last year.
It comes just weeks after Microsoft hired British tech entrepreneur Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of Google DeepMind and Inflection AI, as its new artificial intelligence CEO.
The new hub will be run by Jordan Hoffmann, an engineer who worked closely with Suleyman at DeepMind and Infection AI.
In a blog post Suleyman today said: “There is an enormous pool of AI talent and expertise in the UK, and Microsoft AI plans to make a significant, long-term investment in the region as we begin hiring the best AI scientists and engineers into this new AI hub.
“As a British citizen, born and raised in London, I’m proud to have co-founded and built a cutting-edge AI business here. I’m deeply aware of the extraordinary talent pool and AI ecosystem in the UK, and I’m excited to make this commitment to the UK on behalf of Microsoft AI.”
The commitment marks a dramatic reversal of Microsoft’s apparent downbeat attitude towards investment in London after its blockbuster $69 billion Activision merger was held up by the UK competition regulator last year.
At the time, Microsoft president Brad Smith had described the move as “Probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain…it does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we’ve ever confronted before.”
In an interview with the Standard last year, Suleyman was equally downbeat. He said: “I think the truth is London’s lost its confidence. It’s not what it was in the 2000s. And it needs to find back its passion for risk-taking, innovation, and invention.
“Being a founder is cooler in Silicon Valley. And it should be the coolest thing to do in London. [But] it’s just become expensive and inaccessible.”
Microsoft said it plans to “grow rapidly” at the new hub, which will be based at 2 Kingdom Street in the modern Paddington Central office district, situated opposite the global headquarters of Vodafone, which in January signed a 10-year, $1.5 billion deal with the tech giant over AI and cloud services.
Microsoft’s share price has grown nearly 50% over the past year to top $3 trillion, overtaking Apple, as it established itself as a world leader in AI.
