Nvidia to invest at least $100 million in UK supercomputer, CEO says

(In June 17 item, corrects spelling of Simon Segars name in paragraph 6)

By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) - Nvidia Corp's chief executive on Thursday said the company will spend at least $100 million on a supercomputer in the United Kingdom.

Speaking at The Six Five Summit, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia will spend "$100 million, just as a starting point" on the Cambridge-1 supercomputer.

Nvidia had said in October it planned to spend 40 million pounds, or about $55.6 million, on the project.

Nvidia is in the process of acquiring U.K.-based chip technology firm Arm Ltd for $40 billion from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. The deal faces pushback from Nvidia's rivals and is under regulatory scrutiny in the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe.

To show its commitment to Arm's U.K. operations, Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia said in October it was building the U.K.'s most powerful supercomputer in Cambridge, where Arm is headquartered, to focus on solving healthcare and artificial intelligence problems.

At The Six Five summit, Huang was asked about Nvidia's investment plans in the United Kingdom during a joint interview with Arm Chief Executive Simon Segars.

"Cambridge-1, that supercomputing center is, call it a $100 million, just as a starting point," Huang said. "I mean, it's a big investment. It is the most powerful supercomputer in the U.K., and researchers are super excited about it."

(1 pound = $1.39 US Dollars)

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Chris Reese and Barbara Lewis)