London to flex AI ties at tech gathering just as Nvidia becomes rare $3T company

AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) entering the elite $3T market-cap club this week will add to the buzz at London Tech Week, with more than 45,000 participants set to gather as the tech sector paces investment growth in the British capital.

Ties between Wall Street, Silicon Valley and London will be prominent at events running from June 10-14. Artificial intelligence will be a major theme, reflecting market interest kicked off by ChatGPT from OpenAI, whose backers include Microsoft (MSFT). The software heavyweight and Tesla (TSLA) – part of the so-called Magnificent 7 group of stocks – are listed as corporate partners of London Tech Week.

AI, fintech and other companies attending the conference will showcase innovations to more than 1,000 venture capitalists and angel investors, among others. Market bets on AI- and tech-sector growth have not only ignited shares of Silicon Valley stalwarts Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) but have propelled shares in British chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM) and British AI-powered cybersecurity company Darktrace (OTCPK:DRKTF).

Arm’s Nasdaq-listed shares have jumped ~82% YTD, and Darktrace’s London-listed stock has climbed ~58%. Nvidia (NVDA) has a $147B stake in Arm (ARM). Darktrace, ahead of its ~$5B private-equity buyout, is among the +220 tech and consumer-internet businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange.

“London is at the forefront of supporting the responsible development of AI,” Janet Coyle, managing director of Grow London at London & Partners, told Seeking Alpha. Overall investment in London rose 6% to $2.46B in Q1 YoY, led by fintech and enterprise software entities, according to data from Dealroom and London & Partners, a public-private business consultancy and co-founder of London Tech Week.

“As the number one tech hub in Europe and second in the world, we are already welcoming the likes of Microsoft AI, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind, all of whom have chosen London as a location for their international headquarters,” Coyle said.

Salesforce (CRM) this week said it will open its first London AI center through a $4B investment in its U.K. business. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI-hub plan in the city keys off its £2.5B ($3.2B) AI-investment in the U.K. Salt Lake City’s Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX) said it was opening a King’s Cross office. Nvidia (NVDA) invested $50M in Recursion last year to accelerate AI-driven drug discovery.

“AI’s game-changing potential” was behind U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement last year of a £100M fund to transform life sciences and health care. Meanwhile, the U.S. and the U.K. will partner on developing AI-security tests.

ETFs that offer exposure to the U.K. market include (EWU), (FLGB), (FKU), and (EWUS).