Investors, when they think about artificial intelligence (AI) growth potential, have focused on the U.S. and China in recent times. After all, they are the two biggest AI markets, and companies from these countries -- such as the U.S.' Nvidia and China's Huawei -- have stood out for their innovations. But other countries also represent growth opportunities for AI players, and one in particular is the U.K.
In fact, the U.K. is the third-largest AI market today, with a value of $92 billion as of last year, according to the government. And two U.S. companies in particular will benefit the most from a recent $42 billion AI infrastructure push in that country. I'm talking about cloud computing giants Microsoft (MSFT 1.40%) and Amazon (AMZN 1.97%). Let's take a closer look at this potentially explosive growth story.
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Microsoft's $30 billion investment
Just last week, Microsoft and other U.S. players including Nvidia and Salesforce announced investments in the U.K. totaling $42 billion. Microsoft pledged to invest $30 billion in the country by 2028, and that includes an infrastructure buildout to support its creation of the U.K.'s biggest supercomputer. This would involve more than 23,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), or the chips supporting the most crucial of AI tasks such as the training and inferencing of large language models.
This follows news from a few months ago: Then, Amazon announced it would spend more than $54 billion over the coming three years to boost its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in the U.K. -- and invest in new fulfillment centers to support its e-commerce business in the country.
So, U.S. companies clearly see the potential for growth in the U.K. and have committed to it at just the right moment, as the momentum for AI infrastructure buildout picks up. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang recently predicted global AI infrastructure spending will reach a mind-boggling $4 trillion by the end of the decade.
Among all of the companies involved in the U.K. buildout, though, Microsoft and Amazon may benefit the most, and here's why. One key element is these companies both are leaders in the world of cloud computing. Amazon's Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds the biggest share at about 30% of the market worldwide, while Microsoft Azure holds 20%. And specifically in the U.K. market, each of these players holds about a 40% share, putting them on equal footing. This leadership positions them well as demand for AI capacity grows -- current Azure and AWS customers may stick with these cloud providers that they know well for their AI workloads.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
The ability to ramp up quickly
These players also have the financial strength and presence on site to quickly ramp up and follow through on their investment plans, which means they might be ready to meet this growing demand in the U.K. market. So, as the U.K. and its businesses focus on AI, Microsoft and Amazon should see their cloud revenues in the country take off.
What does all of this mean for you as an investor? Should you buy shares of these players because of this potential growth in the U.K.? I wouldn't invest in these stocks for this reason only -- but it represents a positive point to add to an already strong buy case. Each of these players trades at interesting levels today, particularly Amazon, which has seen its valuation decline considerably from late last year.
MSFT PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
Meanwhile, these players are highly profitable and have delivered a strong track record of revenue and net income growth over the past several years.
MSFT Net Income (Annual) data by YCharts
The AI opportunity ahead now offers these well-established companies that have proven themselves over time a new growth driver. And since they're leaders in the cloud market, as mentioned, they're well positioned to benefit significantly -- especially in a market where they dominate, such as in the U.K.
All of this means that now makes an excellent time for both cautious and aggressive investors to buy shares of these current and future winners -- they're set to gain from the AI boom at home, in the U.K., and potentially in other parts of the world as well.
