Communities across Lanarkshire are set to benefit from thousands of new jobs, cutting-edge skills and long-term community investment as the UK government today announced the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone in Airdrie.
The new AI Growth Zone will bring more than 3,400 jobs to the region over the coming years, positioning Lanarkshire at the forefront of the UK’s fast-growing artificial intelligence sector.
Announced by the Technology Secretary, the Growth Zone will combine world-class AI infrastructure with local skills development, clean energy innovation and sustained funding for community programmes – ensuring the benefits of AI are felt directly by people and businesses across North Lanarkshire.
Of the 3,400 roles expected to be created, around 800 will be high‑paying AI and digital jobs, including AI researchers, software engineers, data specialists and permanent data centre operations staff. A further wave of construction and infrastructure roles will be generated as work begins on building the full site, including advanced data centres, enabling infrastructure and a dedicated renewables park.
Crucially, the project will also deliver 50 apprenticeships, helping to nurture the next generation of Scottish AI talent and giving local people access to future-focused careers without needing to leave the area.
The Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone will be underpinned by £8.2 billion in private investment, acting as a major catalyst for economic renewal in Airdrie and the wider Lanarkshire region.
Alongside this, a new community fund worth up to £543 million over the next 15 years will be created. As data centre capacity comes online, the fund will support a wide range of local initiatives – from skills and training programmes to after-school coding clubs, as well as vital support for charities and food banks.
The Growth Zone forms part of the government’s wider drive to ensure AI delivers practical, frontline benefits for communities while helping to reduce the cost of living.
It comes one year on from the publication of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, with 38 of the plan’s 50 commitments already delivered. Progress is now publicly trackable via a newly launched interactive dashboard.
Over the past 12 months, the government has increased UK AI computing power tenfold and rolled out a major skills programme that has already delivered more than one million free AI courses.
AI is also transforming public services. Around one‑third of chest X-rays in the NHS are now AI-enabled, while AI tools have reduced the time taken to identify fraud across government by 80%. Meanwhile, the government‑backed Extract tool to digitise planning documents is expected to be available to all councils by Spring 2026, with full digitisation targeted by the end of the year.
Commenting on the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Getting on in life should not mean travelling miles from your community for work while struggling to pay the bills at home.
“By bringing billions of pounds of investment into Lanarkshire, we are creating good, well-paid jobs and funding support that directly helps families with the cost of living.
“With strong progress made on our AI Opportunities Action Plan over the past year, now is the time to put our foot on the accelerator and ensure working people feel the benefits in every corner of the UK.”
When complete, the Lanarkshire site will be one of the most advanced AI facilities anywhere in the world. DataVita plans to include over 500MW of on‑site power generation within the next four years, helping to drive major AI breakthroughs while supporting the UK’s clean energy ambitions.
The Growth Zone will pioneer solutions to one of AI’s biggest challenges: energy consumption. Power will be drawn from on‑site renewable sources, including nearby solar and wind developments. Excess heat generated by the data centres will also be reused, with plans being explored to redirect it to University Hospital Monklands, Scotland’s first fully digital and Net Zero hospital.
CoreWeave will be one of the site’s key backers, deploying cutting-edge NVIDIA GPU technology to support researchers, start-ups and innovators. This forms part of the company’s £2.5 billion investment in UK AI projects, reinforcing the country’s position as a global AI leader.
The Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone becomes the fifth such zone announced since the launch of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, joining Oxfordshire, North and South Wales, and the North East of England – cementing the UK’s status as home to the largest AI sector in Europe, which raised £6 billion in 2025, up 80% on the previous year.
Image credit: iStock
