Nick Clegg, Meta's former president of global affairs, has criticised the multibillion-dollar US-UK tech agreement announced during Donald Trump's state visit, calling it 'sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley'. Speaking at a Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, the former deputy prime minister warned the deal would leave the UK more reliant on American tech firms.
Clegg described the announcements, which include investments from Nvidia, OpenAI, and a $30bn Microsoft deal, as 'mutton dressed as lamb' and 'all one-way traffic'. He argued that Britain is being 'defanged' by fostering dependence on US tech rather than building its own industry, adding: 'We're a kind of vassal state technologically, we really are.'
The comments come despite government efforts to showcase the deals as evidence of strong US relations and economic growth. Clegg revealed he advised former US ambassador Peter Mandelson to be cautious about such tie-ups, stating the agreement is 'just another version of the United Kingdom holding on to Uncle Sam's coat-tails'.
Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicted the UK would become an 'AI superpower' as he announced a £500m investment in British cloud computing firm Nscale. Huang cited the country's universities and companies like DeepMind as evidence of potential, telling a London press conference: 'You just don't appreciate it. Your universities. Come on. You're too humble.'
