Oracle has announced a significant £3.8 billion ($5 billion) investment in the UK’s cloud infrastructure, aimed at driving the nation’s AI innovation over the next five years. The move comes in response to the growing demand for cloud services and is set to expand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), providing UK businesses with enhanced access to cutting-edge AI tools such as sovereign AI, multi-cloud capabilities, and generative AI innovation.
The investment will play a key role in supporting the UK government’s Plan for Change, focusing on industries such as healthcare, defense, and manufacturing. The UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, praised the announcement, stating, “This £3.8 billion investment will accelerate our AI ambitions, providing businesses and public services with cutting-edge cloud infrastructure to drive productivity, enhance security, and unlock new opportunities for growth.”
Oracle’s ongoing efforts also include the creation of over 50 AI agents within its Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite to streamline business processes by eliminating repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-priority projects.
As demand for AI-specific infrastructure grows, a recent report by Ciena highlights the urgency of expanding data centre capacity. More than 50% of UK data centre professionals believe inter-data centre network bandwidth needs a 50% increase within the next few years to meet escalating demands.
Siobhan Wilson, Senior Vice President and Country Leader at Oracle UK, emphasized that this investment will be vital to powering the UK’s future, underscoring the role of AI in transforming industries.
This move aligns with the broader shift in tech conferences, as Cloud Expo Europe transitions to the Cloud & AI Infrastructure event to address the specific requirements of AI, focusing on the next-generation compute, storage, and networking solutions essential for the sector’s growth.
With this major investment, Oracle is positioning the UK as a leader in AI and cloud technology, contributing significantly to the future of digital infrastructure.
