Carbon3.ai, a recently-founded British tech firm, has pledged to invest £1bn in an effort to build the UK’s first “sovereign AI infrastructure network”.
Incorporated earlier this year, Carbon3.ai wants to transform legacy industrial and energy infrastructure into sustainably powered AI hubs, which would include data centres, GPUs and energy capacity.
The company is hoping to capitalise on the ambition of the UK government to create a sovereign and thriving AI sector alongside a massively scaled-up energy and compute infrastructure ecosystem.
It claims its network will be fully located in the UK, subject to its rules and regulations and provide “low-carbon compute capacity” for enterprises, research and public services.
“The UK’s competitiveness in AI depends on infrastructure that is truly sovereign, sustainable, and resilient,” said chief executive Tom Humphreys.
“It’s not enough to invest in data centres, we need a national backbone for AI that’s owned, powered, and secured right here at home. Our goal is to ensure that British enterprise, researchers, and public institutions have access to world-class compute capacity without relying on foreign-controlled infrastructure.”
The company said it has completed a proof of concept for its technology and is working towards a full-scale rollout of a site in the East Midlands that it hopes to open March 2026.
The firm has also appointed Sana Khareghani, former head of the UK Government Office for Artificial Intelligence, as its chief strategy officer.
“If the UK is to lead in AI, we must first secure the foundations that make it possible: compute, power, and data,” said Khareghani.
“Carbon3 is building those foundations here at home, transforming legacy energy sites into a sovereign, renewable, AI-ready infrastructure network. This isn’t a vision on paper, we’re making it happen now on the ground.
“By putting critical infrastructure back under UK control, we’re creating sustainable capacity and national capability that will power innovation, research, and enterprise for decades to come.”
Carbon3.ai has not yet confirmed where the £1bn figure will come from. UKTN has reached out for further comment.
