The widely-reported landmark Technology Prosperity Deal signed between the UK and the US during Donald Trump’s state visit has been billed by ministers as the start of a “next Golden Age of Innovation”.
However, former Meta executive and ex-deputy Prime Minister, Sir Nick Clegg, has dismissed the mammoth investments as “sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley”.
The agreement commits the two nations to deeper collaboration across strategic science and technology fields including AI, civil nuclear, quantum technologies and frontier innovation.
Plans include joint AI research between major science agencies in both countries, shared compute infrastructure, new data sets and partnerships in biotechnology and healthcare.
NASA and the UK Space Agency are set to work together on an ‘AI for Space’ initiative, while nuclear cooperation will target advanced reactors and fuels with the aim of eliminating reliance on Russian supply by 2028.
Quantum collaboration will involve benchmarking initiatives, a joint code challenge and exchange programme.
The deal also sets out commitments around research security, 6G telecommunications, cyber resilience and the mobilisation of private capital for critical technologies.
The government has presented the deal alongside headline announcements from US tech giants, including Nvidia, OpenAI and Microsoft.
Microsoft’s commitment alone has been valued at $30 billion (£22bn), with ministers claiming the investment proves Britain’s global appeal as a destination for innovation.
Clegg, however, questioned whether the UK was truly benefiting.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, he described the relationship as “all one-way traffic”, arguing that the announcements largely reflected infrastructure projects already in motion by US firms, merely accelerated to coincide with the state visit.
“We’re a kind of vassal state technologically, we really are,” he warned.
“The moment our companies, our tech companies, start developing any scale or ambition, they have to go to California, because we don’t have the growth capital here.”
He revealed that former US ambassador Peter Mandelson had sought his advice on the sector ahead of Trump’s visit and said he had urged caution over the partnerships.
He continued: “In a sense, this US-UK tech deal is just another version of the United Kingdom holding on to Uncle Sam’s coat-tails … which is basically just taking sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley.”