The US and UK sign a $350 billion technology protocol to jointly lead the future of AI, quantum computing, and nuclear fusion.

The United States and the United Kingdom signed a significant memorandum of understanding on September 18, committing to deep cooperation in cutting-edge technology fields such as artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, telecommunications, and Quantum Computing. This protocol covers a wide range of applications from space travel and military defense to targeted biomedical drugs and medical procedures, marking a strategic initiative by both countries to seek a dominant position in global technological competition.

US-UK Technology Alliance: $350 billion investment to create a new global technology landscape

US President Trump announced at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that this collaboration will facilitate transactions worth up to $350 billion across multiple sectors. Trump emphasized: "This visit has facilitated $350 billion in transactions across multiple sectors, and we are committed to ensuring that the UK becomes the safest and most reliable supplier of the best artificial intelligence hardware and software on the planet, and we will also provide these hardware and software."

According to a statement from the White House, "the world is at the dawn of a golden age." This non-binding memorandum of understanding proposes joint research by multiple government departments and agencies of the two countries to collaboratively develop these emerging technologies in order to dominate in the global technology competition.

Quantum Computing and 6G Networks: Next Generation Digital Infrastructure

According to the memorandum of understanding, the two countries will establish a dedicated working group to jointly develop Quantum Computing hardware, software, algorithms, and interoperability standards. Quantum Computing has become a topic of great interest in the crypto community, as sufficiently powerful quantum computers could potentially break modern cryptographic standards that are crucial to cryptocurrencies.

As part of technology research and development, the UK and the US will also explore the establishment of 6G mobile telecommunications networks, further consolidating the two countries' leading positions in the field of next-generation communication technology.

Nuclear Fusion Energy: Unlocking the Energy Demands of the AI Era

The two countries will cooperate to develop and deploy "advanced" nuclear power plants, including nuclear fusion reactors, to end dependence on foreign fuel and strengthen the energy supply chain. Nuclear fusion is the opposite process of nuclear fission, generating energy by pushing atoms to fuse together, which is much safer than traditional nuclear fission.

The radiation levels of fusion reactors are significantly lower, and they do not carry the catastrophic meltdown risk associated with traditional fission reactors. This advanced type of nuclear reactor can provide greater energy, which is crucial for energy-intensive artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications.

However, experts point out that abundant energy could also have a profound impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem. If energy becomes extremely abundant and production costs are low, the barriers imposed by the Proof of Work (PoW) mining algorithm may weaken, potentially allowing malicious actors to threaten the security of the PoW protocol through spam transactions and 51% attacks.

Next Steps for Cooperation

The United States and the United Kingdom will establish an "executive-level working group" within the next six months and begin collaborating on R&D efforts at the annual meeting. However, the White House also clarified that the memorandum of understanding "does not create any legally binding obligations," and neither country is obligated to spend any funds or alter existing agreements for these initiatives.