London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 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
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×