London — The Scottish county of Lanarkshire has been designated as the United Kingdom’s latest AI Growth Zone, as part of the government’s efforts to accelerate investment and job creation in the artificial intelligence sector.
AI Growth Zones are areas selected for targeted government support, including faster planning approvals for AI-related infrastructure such as data centres and compute facilities.
Lanarkshire, located in Scotland’s Central Lowlands, joins previously announced AI Growth Zones in Oxfordshire, North Wales, South Wales, and the North East of England.
The Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone will be centred around DataVita’s data centre site in Airdrie and will be developed in partnership with U.S.-based AI cloud company CoreWeave.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the initiative is expected to bring billions of pounds in private investment and create thousands of jobs in the region.
According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the zone is expected to support more than 3,400 jobs, including hundreds of high-paying roles in AI research and software development.
The government also announced £8.2 billion in private investment commitments and a £543 million community fund to support local programmes over the next 15 years.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the initiative aims to ensure the benefits of AI-driven growth are felt across communities in Scotland and the wider UK.
Source: UK government announcements / industry reporting
