This development aligns with Microsoft's recent commitment to invest £2.5 billion ($3.15 billion) in the U.K. over the next three years, including expanding its datacentre footprint and training over a million people for the AI economy. The U.K. is a leading country in AI R&D investment, and with Google’s DeepMind also based in London, a potential talent competition between the two AI giants is anticipated.
Key takeaways:
- Microsoft has announced a new London hub for its consumer AI division, which will be led by AI scientist and engineer Jordan Hoffmann, formerly of Inflection AI and Deepmind.
- The new hub is part of Microsoft's £2.5 billion ($3.15 billion) investment in the U.K. over the next three years, which includes expanding its datacentre footprint and training over one million people for the AI economy.
- The U.K. is considered a top-tier country for AI R&D investment, and with Google's DeepMind also based in London, there could be a significant competition for AI talent between the two tech giants.
- Microsoft plans to launch new job postings in the coming weeks and months to recruit fresh AI talent for the new London unit, which will focus on developing new language models and associated infrastructure and tooling.