BlackRock is expected to announce £500 million of investment into UK data centres, according to a new report from Sky News. 

The investment is reportedly set to come through a new joint venture with Digital Gravity Partners, with a focus on acquiring and upgrading existing facilities to boost capacity.

The announcement is expected to coincide with Trump’s state visit, with Larry Fink, BlackRock’s Chair and Chief Executive, set to be part of the business delegation accompanying President Trump. Other industry leaders are also expected to be in attendance, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who recently hailed the UK as the ‘perfect’ place to invest in AI, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. They are among the dozens of industry heavyweights that have been invited to a state banquet at Windsor Castle hosted by King Charles III. 

The rumoured investment in the UK’s data centre sector comes just days after Bloomberg News reported that a multibillion-pound UK investment linked to the $500 billion ‘Stargate’ data centre project could be announced during Trump’s visit to the country. It also comes on top of the investment announced by Holtec today, which will see it develop advanced data centres powered by small modular reactors at the former Cottam coal station in Nottinghamshire.

While Trump’s state visit to the UK is likely to be controversial for some, the UK Government is hoping that it’ll demonstrate that the country is open for business. In fact, it’s reported that its aim is to  publish aggregate figures for investment and job creation that rival the £63 billion it claimed from last October’s International Investment Summit.