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Amazon’s computing unit AWS is in talks with Italy to invest billions of euros in the expansion of its data center business in the country as part of the tech giant’s effort to boost its cloud offer in Europe, four people familiar with the matter said.

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LONDON — Amazon Web Services (AWS), the U.S. e-commerce giant’s cloud division, announced plans to invest £8 billion ($10.45 billion) over the next five years to build and operate data centers in the U.K. as it ramps up its cloud computing efforts in the country.

The investment, announced early Wednesday London time, comes as cloud players talk up the benefits of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and as companies look to integrate the tech into their businesses.

“We’ve seen a real uptake of cloud computing and AI technology by British businesses, and we know the U.K. has a very ambitious digital plan,” Tanuja Randery, managing director for European, Middle East and Africa at AWS, told CNBC in an interview.

“So this will go toward helping our customers to really be able to harness cloud computing, because you need the data centers to be able to actually provide cloud computing for our customers.”

AWS executive discusses the company's chip and cloud development, cost optimization

Randery said generative AI is “probably the most transformative technology we have seen, possibly since the cloud and the internet” and that businesses are currently trialing the nascent tech.

“We’ve also seen that businesses are looking at this in terms of both revenue growth, employee productivity, which is really, really critical, as you know, but also being able to compete globally.”

AWS, along with other cloud players, has been investing heavily in infrastructure, such as data centers and Nvidia chips, in order to train and run AI models. These cloud players then sell AI services to businesses.

AWS competes with Microsoft and Google in the U.K. and its investment continues the company’s focus on expansion in Europe. AWS said this year it plans to invest 8.8 billion euros in existing cloud infrastructure in Germany.

Entire value of Amazon can be justified by just AWS, says D.A. Davidson's Luria

But this investment also comes at a time when regulators in the U.K. are scrutinizing competition in the cloud market with AWS and Microsoft under the microscope. The Competitions and Markets Authority is currently looking into the the U.K. cloud market.

Randery said AWS is “working very constructively” with the CMA but that authorities need to balance regulation and innovation.

“We worked very closely with governments and regulators around the world, we believe that it’s important to have regulation, but that regulation should continue to be innovation friendly,” Randery told CNBC.

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Oracle and Silver Lake part of TikTok investor group as Trump extends deal deadline

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Oracle and Silver Lake part of TikTok investor group as Trump extends deal deadline

In this photo illustration, the logo of TikTok is displayed on a smartphone screen on April 5, 2025 in Shanghai, China. 

Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business, which will be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle and Silver Lake, CNBC’s David Faber reported.

It’s the fourth time Trump has extended the deadline. The extension, as described in an executive order, precludes the Department of Justice from enforcing a national security law that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. until Dec. 16.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday that a “framework deal” had been reached involving TikTok. Under the national security law, which would have come into effect on Wednesday, app store operators like Apple and Google and internet service providers would be penalized for providing services to TikTok’s U.S. operations if a deal was not reached.

Under the framework deal, about 80% of TikTok’s U.S. business would be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported. As part of the arrangement, existing U.S. users would need to shift to a new app, according to report.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected on Friday to discuss the terms of the TikTok-related deal that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday.

The deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 45 days, includes new investors, existing ByteDance investors and will result in Oracle maintaining its cloud computing agreement with TikTok, CNBC’s David Faber reported earlier on Tuesday.

Bessent said Tuesday during CNBC’s Squawk Box that Trump was willing to let TikTok “go dark,” which spurred China to agree to a deal. The Treasury Secretary said that the deal’s commercial terms had already been finalized “in essence” since March or April, but China put the deal on hold following Trump’s tough tariffs and trade policies.

“We were able to reach a series of agreements, mostly for things we will not be doing in the future that have no effect on our national security,” Bessent said Tuesday.

A senior White House official said in a statement that, “Any details of the TikTok framework are pure speculation unless they are announced by this administration.”

TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.

WATCH: Trump’s willingness to let TikTok go dark motivated China to make deal.

Treasury Secretary Bessent: Trump's willingness to let TikTok go dark motivated China to make deal

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Microsoft announces $30 billion investment in AI infrastructure, operations in UK

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Microsoft announces  billion investment in AI infrastructure, operations in UK

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Build AI Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.

Adek Berry | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON — Microsoft said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $30 billion in the U.K. by 2028, as the company builds out its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The investment includes an additional $15.5 billion in capital expansion and $15.1 billion in its U.K. operations, Microsoft said. The company said the investment would enable it to build the U.K.’s “largest supercomputer,” with more than 23,000 advanced graphics processing units, in partnership with Nscale, a British cloud computing firm.

The spending commitment comes as President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to Britain. Trump arrived in the U.K. Tuesday evening and is set to be greeted at Windsor Castle on Wednesday by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

During his visit, all eyes are on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is under pressure to bring stability to the country after the exit of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a house tax scandal and a major cabinet reshuffle.

On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said his stance on the U.K. has warmed over the years. He previously criticized the country over its attempt in 2023 to block the tech giant’s $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision-Blizzard. The deal was cleared by the U.K.s competition regulator later that year.

“I haven’t always been optimistic every single day about the business climate in the U.K.,” Smith said. However, he added, “I am very encouraged by the steps that the government has taken over the last few years.”

“Just a few years ago, this kind of investment would have been inconceivable because of the regulatory climate then and because there just wasn’t the need or demand for this kind of large AI investment,” Smith said.

Starmer and Trump are expected to sign a new deal Wednesday “to unlock investment and collaboration in AI, Quantum, and Nuclear technologies,” the government said in a statement late Tuesday.

WATCH: What’s at stake in Trump’s visit to the U.K.

Trump in the UK: What’s at stake

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Waymo obtains permit to test robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport

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Waymo obtains permit to test robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport

Waymo partners with Uber to bring robotaxi service to Atlanta and Austin.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Alphabet-owned Waymo obtained a permit to start testing its robotaxis at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and the company announced Tuesday.

Waymo will partner with the airport to roll out its commercial robotaxi service in phases, “beginning with employee testing soon ahead of welcoming Bay Area riders,” company spokesperson Chris Bonelli told CNBC.

That means the robotaxis will start with human drivers on board, ready to take control of the vehicles if needed, and eventually operate as a driverless ride-hail service.

Waymo is already operating its service in San Mateo County, where the airport is based, and in nearby San Francisco, but it does not yet have permission to ferry passengers to or from the airport.

In 2022, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport gave Waymo permission to test and operate its service there, and earlier this month, Waymo secured a permit to begin testing at San Jose Mineta International Airport.

Last month, Lurie said Waymo could operate a limited passenger service on one of San Francisco’s main thoroughfares, Market Street, where such services had previously been restricted.

For its general robotaxi service, Waymo now operates in Phoenix, parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta.

Tesla began testing a robotaxi service in Austin in June, with human safety supervisors on board. The Elon Musk-led company is also in discussions with San Francisco Bay Area airports. Tesla has permission to operate a paid car service in San Francisco, but not to run a driverless ride-hailing business there.

Tesla does not currently sell vehicles that are safe to use without a person in the car, ready to take over steering or braking at any time.

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