BT, Nscale, and Nvidia reveal a partnership for sovereign AI in the UK.

      Nscale will build data centers at existing BT infrastructure sites, and BT will offer connectivity. Both companies are founding members of the new UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum. This agreement strengthens Nscale's role as a key component of the UK government's national AI infrastructure strategy.

      On April 23, 2026, BT Group and Nscale announced their collaboration to create sovereign AI data centers in the UK utilizing Nvidia’s complete AI infrastructure. As part of this partnership, Nscale plans to establish up to 14 megawatts of AI data center capacity at three existing strategic BT locations in the UK, the specific sites of which have not been revealed. BT will deliver the necessary infrastructure and connectivity for these sites.

      The collaboration expands BT Business’s sovereign platform to provide new AI services tailored for both public and private sectors, focusing on regulatory compliance, data residency, and security needs for UK organizations.

      The deal's capacity figure of 14MW is relatively low when compared to hyperscale standards, but its structural implications are significant. BT manages the backbone of the UK’s fixed telecommunications network via its Openreach division, with extensive physical infrastructure throughout the country. By co-locating AI data centers with BT’s existing network exchange and switching facilities, Nscale can achieve low-latency AI computing close to BT’s national fiber grid, avoiding the costs and planning delays associated with greenfield projects.

      For BT, this partnership creates a revenue stream from AI alongside infrastructure originally intended for voice and broadband, effectively monetizing the network in the context of AI demand.

      Founded in 2024 by Australian entrepreneur Josh Payne and based in London, Nscale has quickly emerged as a major player in the UK's AI infrastructure landscape. The company secured $2 billion in a Series C funding round in March 2026, valuing it at $14.6 billion, with Nvidia as a strategic investor alongside Aker ASA, Citadel, Dell, Nokia, Jane Street, and Point72, among others. Nvidia had previously invested £500 million in Nscale in September 2025, referring to it as a “national champion for the UK.”

      Nscale’s board now features prominent figures such as former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and former Yahoo President Susan Decker. The company is already closely integrated into the UK government’s AI infrastructure initiatives. In September 2025, it announced Stargate UK in collaboration with Nvidia and OpenAI, a comprehensive infrastructure platform dedicated to sovereign AI workloads using Nvidia Blackwell Ultra GPUs in Nscale’s UK data centers.

      Alongside Microsoft, Nscale is constructing what will be the largest AI supercomputer in the UK at its AI Campus in Loughton, Essex: a 50MW facility scalable to 90MW, designed to utilize Nvidia VR200 technology and expected to be operational by Q2 2027. Additionally, the company has arranged a $14 billion GPU infrastructure partnership with Microsoft for approximately 200,000 Nvidia GB300 chips across locations in the US, Portugal, and Norway.

      The agreement with BT represents the latest in a series of collaborations that position Nscale as the preferred UK sovereign counterpart to US hyperscalers. While Amazon, Microsoft, and Google develop their own data centers worldwide and serve UK clients from those facilities, Nscale asserts it provides AI computing under UK governance, ensuring sensitive data and operations remain within the nation’s borders.

      This framing is further supported by both companies’ involvement in the UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum, which includes Nvidia, a coalition collaborating with the government on AI infrastructure, skills, and the development of the startup ecosystem.

      AI Minister Kanishka Narayan expressed support for the announcement, referencing the UK government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan. Tom Burke, Nscale's Chief Revenue Officer, called the partnership a “major milestone” in advancing the UK’s AI objectives. Jon James, CEO of BT Business, stated that the collaboration highlights BT’s role as “the digital backbone of the UK” and as “the only provider with the scale, capabilities, and experience to support the nation’s sovereign goals.” Anthony Hills, NVIDIA’s Director for the UK and Ireland, underscored the importance of telecommunications “at the core of sovereign AI.”