Starmer’s tech deal is a national security gamble – and ties us too closely to Trump

The rest of Europe is working hard to move away from dependence on US technology – particularly when it comes to AI, writes Katja Bego. But the UK is moving the other way for quick cash and false promises

As the dust settles on Donald Trump’s tumultuous state visit this week, Keir Starmer’s government will no doubt look at the signing of the UK-US Tech ‘prosperity deal’ as one of the visit’s greatest successes.

The deal, which sees US tech giants like Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI commit to invest an eye-watering £150 billion in UK AI infrastructure, is touted as a major coup, which will not only create new jobs and kickstart growth, but will also turn the UK into “an AI superpower.” How many of those lofty promises will actually materialise remains to be seen. But what is already clear is that by rolling out the red carpet and embracing wholesale the American vision for AI, the UK will see itself become even more dependent on the US tech giants.

Not only does this leave the country dangerously exposed to the whims of the Trump administration, it also sees the UK increasingly out of step with its closest partners in Europe, which have instead started to take ambitious steps to reduce their own reliance on the American tech giants.

The government has praised the deal as putting the UK on a path toward achieving more sovereign capabilities – enabled by the most cutting-edge American AI infrastructure on its soil. But rather than bring more autonomy, the UK is at risk of ceding even more control to external tech providers and so, to echo the words of Nick Clegg, turn itself into a “vassal state technologically.”

The past few months have made it abundantly clear how dangerous that can be. Over the summer, Europe saw its digital dependency on US technology wielded by President Trump as a bargaining chip in tariff negotiations and forced to water down its tech regulation. The UK has faced similar pressures. There are already noises that, as a quid pro quo for this current spending bonanza, the UK is expected to walk back some of its own rules.

But these concerns run deeper than just leverage in trade negotiations. Over-reliance on one single set of actors also brings serious national security risks. Back in March, Ukraine saw its continued access to American systems such as Elon Musk’s Starlink dangled by the Trump Administration as a negotiation tactic – sparking alarm far beyond Kyiv about the reliability of US tech systems.

The incident made clear that the US government can – and occasionally will – force private companies to do its bidding and turn off access to vital technologies at its behest. As part of the state visit, the UK nonetheless still signed a £1.5 billion strategic partnership deal, which sees US defence tech giant Palanti take on an important role in its military AI systems – following earlier deals providing the company access to sensitive NHS data. By going all-in on US AI infrastructure, the UK is also increasingly diverging from the rest of Europe. A post-Brexit narrative has taken hold that the UK, by aligning itself with US tech, is embracing innovation, where the EU continues to be bogged down by burdensome regulation.

The reality on the ground is however starting to look rather different. Tensions during the first months of the second Trump administration have instilled increased urgency in Europe’s efforts to build its own AI (and wider tech) infrastructure and applications. While it is too soon to tell whether these efforts will bear fruit, the momentum is there: EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen dedicated no small part of her State of the Union speech earlier this month to the importance of the continent building - and funding - its own independent AI.

Germany and France both support the development of a Eurostack and are set to host a joint industry summit on achieving sovereignty in November. Dutch tech giant ASML only just last week announced it would invest €1.3 billion in French AI champion Mistral, in an explicit bid to strengthen European sovereignty in AI.

The UK has so far been conspicuously absent from these conversations and developments – and the Tech Prosperity deal will further widen this divide. At a time when its nearest neighbours and closest allies are starting to take serious steps towards lessening their dependency on US technology, the UK is putting all its eggs in the American AI basket.

By buying wholesale into the narrative that the UK become a serious AI player by tethering its fate to US tech, it is capitulating prematurely. By most measures, the UK remains the third most important AI market globally (it should be no surprise that America Inc wants a piece of the pie).

The country’s leading research ecosystem, tech industry and talent pipeline, as well as relative depth of its capital markets, would put it in the driver’s seat if it wanted to take the lead in shaping a wider European approach to AI.

The Tech Prosperity deal risks trading away those advantages, and the country’s wider agency and security, in return for a quick investment boost and false promise of off-the-shelf sovereignty. If the UK wants to shape the AI future on its own terms and indeed become an AI superpower, it must start by charting its own course and working with likeminded partners - not just provide a willing market for someone else’s solutions.

Katja Bego is a senior research fellow on the international security programme at Chatham House