Carbon3.ai, the UK’s leading sovereign AI infrastructure company, has announced a £1 billion investment to build the country’s first nationwide network of fully sovereign, sustainable AI-ready data centres — a move expected to reshape the UK’s digital resilience, national security and long-term competitiveness in artificial intelligence.
The ambitious programme will convert legacy industrial and energy sites into a network of high-performance, low-carbon compute hubs, all designed, owned and operated exclusively within the UK. This ensures that every component — from physical locations to data processing — remains under full UK jurisdiction and regulatory oversight. Carbon3.ai has already completed a successful proof of concept and is preparing for full-scale deployment, with its first 5MW site in the East Midlands opening in March 2026. Planning approval has also been submitted for a second facility in Derbyshire.
To support the next phase of its growth, Carbon3.ai has strengthened its leadership with appointments spanning government, finance and national security. Sana Khareghani, former Head of the UK Government Office for Artificial Intelligence, joins as Chief Strategy Officer, where she will spearhead the development of the national AI infrastructure strategy and ensure the company’s network underpins the UK’s digital, industrial and energy transition.
Khareghani will be supported by Richard Collier-Keywood, the former Vice Chair of PwC’s Global Board, who will advise on financial strategy and governance, and Admiral Sir George Zambellas, former First Sea Lord, whose experience in national resilience and major-scale technology operations will guide Carbon3.ai’s approach to infrastructure security.
Together, the new leadership team brings what Carbon3.ai describes as a “rare combination” of strategic, operational and national service expertise — positioning the company at the centre of the UK’s race to secure sovereign compute capacity.
“If the UK is to lead in AI, we must first secure the foundations: compute, power and data,” said Khareghani. “Carbon3 is building those foundations here at home, transforming legacy energy sites into a sovereign, renewable, AI-ready infrastructure network. This isn’t theory — it’s happening now on the ground. By putting critical infrastructure back under UK control, we are creating the sustainable capacity that will power innovation for decades.”
Carbon3.ai chief executive Tom Humphreys said the investment reflects the UK’s urgent need for sovereign AI infrastructure: “It’s not enough to invest in data centres — we need a national backbone for AI that’s owned, powered and secured right here at home,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure British enterprise, researchers and public institutions have access to world-class compute without relying on foreign-controlled infrastructure.”
Humphreys added that the company is building from “real assets, land, power and live deployments”, and noted that government acknowledges the scale of the challenge. “They’ve been clear that we need 6GW of sovereign AI capacity by 2030. We believe this network will be pivotal in securing that national advantage.”
The investment aligns closely with the UK Government’s AI and digital infrastructure agenda, supporting national resilience, regional regeneration and the conversion of brownfield and legacy energy sites into clean, renewable-powered compute hubs. Carbon3.ai’s expansion also dovetails with plans for AI Growth Zones and the classification of new data centre capacity as critical national infrastructure.
Carbon3.ai’s announcement represents one of the most substantial private-sector commitments yet to accelerating the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities — and signals the rapid emergence of a new strategic industry for Britain’s economic future.
