London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Nvidia and Huawei face an uncertain future in Britain's high-tech capital

Nvidia and Huawei face an uncertain future in Britain's high-tech capital

Situated in the middle of China and the U.S., the English university city of Cambridge has found itself at the center of two massive tech sagas.

U.S. chip maker Nvidia and Chinese hardware manufacturer Huawei have big expansion plans in Cambridge but both companies have big hurdles to overcome if their dreams are to be realized.

Nvidia hopes to acquire Cambridge-headquartered Arm for $40 billion and set up a new “world-class” AI center in the city, while Huawei plans to build a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) research lab in Sawston, located roughly eight miles from Cambridge city center.

Renowned for being one of the world’s greatest intellectual powerhouses, Cambridge is home to thousands of tech workers and companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Apple all employ highly-educated research teams in the city. “Lots of tech companies want to get foothold in Cambridge for the talent,” said William Tunstall-Pedoe, a Cambridge-based entrepreneur who sold his AI start-up to Amazon.

Nvidia’s bid for Arm


Arm, which is headquartered in Cambridge and currently owned by SoftBank, is widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of the British tech industry. Its chips power most of the world’s smartphones, as well as many other devices.

Arm Chief Executive Simon Segars told the Financial Times on Tuesday that the sale of Arm to Nvidia is likely to be held up by regulators. Chipmakers in China have reportedly urged Beijing to investigate the acquisition over concerns that it would give Nvidia too much control over a fundamental technology that gets used in phones and data centers worldwide.

“It’s a tough place at the moment with geopolitics so we’ll have to play that very carefully,” Segars told the FT, adding that regulatory approval across all of the countries it operates in will “take a long time.”

Many view the acquisition as a positive move, with Vishal Chatrath, CEO and co-founder of Cambridge AI start-up Secondmind, telling CNBC that Nvidia can unlock Arm’s “potential like never before.”

But the bid for the 30-year-old company has been criticized by opponents from the moment it was announced on Sep. 13.

Between Sept. 16 and Sept 28., 70% of the 1,771 I.T. experts surveyed by the Chartered Institute for I.T. said they think the U.K. government should intervene in the acquisition, while just 11% said they thought the sale would strengthen then U.K.’s position as “a world leader in digital technologies.”

The U.K. government, which could theoretically intervene under the Enterprise Act, said last month that it is “examining the deal.” The Competition and Markets Authority, a watchdog that monitors international acquisitions, could also weigh in.

Two tech investors, Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth, predicted in their “State of AI” report on Oct. 1 that the deal will ultimately be blocked by somebody.

Strong opposition


Arm co-founder Hermann Hauser was among the first to sound the alarm on the Nvidia deal, calling it “an absolute disaster for Cambridge, the U.K. and Europe,” while the U.K.’s Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband and Daniel Zeichner, a member of parliament for Cambridge, have also voiced concerns.

There are concerns that thousands of Arm employees could lose their jobs if Nvidia decides to move the company’s headquarters to the U.S. and make the company a division of Nvidia.

Some are also worried that the acquisition could destroy Arm’s business model, which involves licensing chip designs to around 500 other companies including several that compete directly with Nvidia.

“The one saving grace about Softbank was that it wasn’t a chip company, and retained Arm’s neutrality,” Hauser told the BBC. “If it becomes part of Nvidia, most of the licensees are competitors of Nvidia, and will of course then look for an alternative to Arm.”

Rene Haas, president of Arm’s IP Products Group, told Reuters on Wednesday that Arm will keep “firewalls” in place to ensure Nvidia does not access confidential information on Arm’s customers or get early access to Arm’s products.

Critics of the deal have asked Nvidia to make legally binding commitments that will protect U.K. jobs and Arm’s business in general. Nvidia says it is happy to make these commitments.

Huawei’s £1 billion R&D lab


Huawei was given the green light by a local council to build its R&D facility on June 25. At the time, the Shenzhen-headquartered company said the 50,000 square meter lab in Sawston would create 400 jobs. But the lab’s future looks to be increasingly uncertain.

In July, the U.K. announced it will ban Huawei from its 5G networks. U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said mobile network operators in the country would be forced to stop buying equipment from Huawei by the end of the year. They will also be required to strip out Huawei gear from their infrastructure by 2027.


Huawei’s proposed R&D center in Cambridge, England.


Things took another turn for the worse on Thursday, when a parliamentary inquiry concluded that there is “clear evidence of collusion” between Huawei and the “Chinese Communist Party apparatus.”

The members of parliament suggested that Huawei’s equipment could be stripped out of the country’s networks earlier than planned.

Huawei, which already employs around 1,600 in the U.K. across 20 offices, said the report lacks credibility and that it is built on opinion rather than fact.

“We’re sure people will see through these groundless accusations of collusion and remember instead what Huawei has delivered for Britain over the past 20 years,” a spokesperson told CNBC.

On the R&D lab, the spokesperson said they’d heard nothing to suggest anything has changed.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×