Google to build

By Crisp
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Crisp

Posted
Posted

Google to build ?1bn UK headquarters at London's King's Cross

Google has completed a ?1bn property deal to move its UK headquarters to a brownfield site in London's King's Cross area.

The US technology giant has purchased a 2.4 acre site between King's Cross and St Pancras stations and plans to build a seven and 11 storey complex due to be complete in 2016.

Google already has two central London offices ? one in Victoria and one on St Giles High Street ? from where staff are expected to be relocated.

The move forms part of the regeneration of the King's Cross area following the opening of the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras in 2007.

Organisations that have moved into the area since then include Guardian News & Media, publisher of MediaGuardian, and art college Central St Martin's.

Google's purchase mirrors its property strategy in Dublin, where it bought a building outright for 2,000 staff in 2011.

Google-UK-HQ-008.jpg

Source

Let's hope they bring their fibre broadband infrastructure with them :laugh:

  • Guth and Vivek Yadav Vivek
  • Like 2
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1131998-google-to-build/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

thealexweb

Posted
Posted

Perhaps they could start paying their taxes properly in the UK then! But I guess that's too much to ask for...

Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and yes Google all use legal procedures to lower taxes, it makes the UK attractive for foreign businesses to invest.

Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

Posted
Posted

Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and yes Google all use legal procedures to lower taxes, it makes the UK attractive for foreign businesses to invest.

Of course it's attractive, because they can pay a lower rate of tax than businesses that operate exclusively in the UK. The thing is, if these companies earn money from the UK - which they all do - then they should pay the correct amount of tax. Instead they use ridiculous accounting practices, funnelling their money through several fake shells - in Ireland, Bermuda, etc - and create phoney licensing terms to hide their profits.

If they can make money in the UK then they should pay taxes in the UK. If not then I'm sure there are plenty of other businesses that would love to take their place and pay their taxes.

  • jakem1, El Marto and +hedleigh
  • Like 3
Mentor

SiCKX

Posted
Posted

Of course it's attractive, because they can pay a lower rate of tax than businesses that operate exclusively in the UK. The thing is, if these companies earn money from the UK - which they all do - then they should pay the correct amount of tax. Instead they use ridiculous accounting practices, funnelling their money through several fake shells - in Ireland, Bermuda, etc - and create phoney licensing terms to hide their profits.

If they can make money in the UK then they should pay taxes in the UK. If not then I'm sure there are plenty of other businesses that would love to take their place and pay their taxes.

You are either jealous or work for DailyMail. Google is just creating JOBS with this thing, whether they pay big or small tax is not your concern at all. Not like you'll get to buy a Bentley if Google pays extra pounds to feed the Queen.

Grand Master

n_K

Posted
Posted

You are either jealous or work for DailyMail. Google is just creating JOBS with this thing, whether they pay big or small tax is not your concern at all. Not like you'll get to buy a Bentley if Google pays extra pounds to feed the Queen.

Maybe it is YOU that works for the dailyfail, people pay tax and companies are meant to too, for things like the NHS, etc.

If all corporations avoided paying tax, there'd be even LESS tax money collected this less NHS, less council services, etc.

So actually, you're wrong - it damn right well is his business and everyone's in the UK.

Mentor

SiCKX

Posted
Posted

Maybe it is YOU that works for the dailyfail, people pay tax and companies are meant to too, for things like the NHS, etc.

If all corporations avoided paying tax, there'd be even LESS tax money collected this less NHS, less council services, etc.

So actually, you're wrong - it damn right well is his business and everyone's in the UK.

You went from Google, (1 company) to "all companies" so fast. Is that anger and generalization? Or is it a trend to pick on every company now after the Starbucks incident which was mainly "sold" to the world by DailyMail? I'm not saying it's fair, but seeing the same complaint over and over like it's the 1 thing that can save the planet.. is quite annoying.

Grand Master

FlintyV

Posted
Posted

You are either jealous or work for DailyMail. Google is just creating JOBS with this thing, whether they pay big or small tax is not your concern at all. Not like you'll get to buy a Bentley if Google pays extra pounds to feed the Queen.

Because they're creating jobs they can opt-out of paying taxes? Yeah, doesn't work like that.

It's very much a concern to every Briton that every company pays their fair share for operating in the country. If these large companies such as Google, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Starbucks can opt-out of tax then it gives them a distinct advantage over the smaller companies who do the right thing and pay their taxes.

I also know that it's changed where I'd buy things from, and try harder to support smaller companies who do the right thing rather than resorting to loopholes to save them paying a few million on billions of profits.

And tax money doesn't go the the Queen so haven't a clue what you're on about there.

  • theyarecomingforyou, FloatingFatMan and +hedleigh
  • Like 3
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Amazon may use OpenAI and Nova models after Anthropic reportedly raises costs

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Amazon may use OpenAI and Nova models after Anthropic reportedly raises costs by Karthik Mudaliar Amazon is reportedly considering to use OpenAI models and even its own Nova family of AI models after Anthropic raised the cost of using Claude inside Amazon services. According to a report from The Information, Amazon is weighing its options to reduce costs under a new arrangement with Anthropic. But back in April, Amazon said it would invest $5 billion more in Anthropic, with the possibility of adding up to another $20 billion if certain commercial milestones are met. That investment actually came on top of another $8 billion Amazon had already put into the Claude maker. Anthropic, meanwhile, committed to spend more than $100 billion over 10 years on AWS technologies, including Amazon’s Trainium chips. Amazon isn't just a customer of Anthropic but also one of the most important backers and cloud partners. This is why it makes it interesting that Amazon is considering other alternatives to handle its internal workloads. Although Amazon has been building its own options for a while now. Its Nova family of AI models was announced in late 2024 for Amazon Bedrock, with models aimed at text, image, and video tasks. Amazon pitched the model around cost and latency at that time. With that said, OpenAI has also become a more realistic option recently for AWS customers as well as for Amazon itself. Earlier this year, OpenAI brought its latest models and Codex coding agent to Amazon Bedrock, after changes to its previously more restrictive Microsoft cloud arrangement. This allowed AWS to serve even those customers who wanted other alternatives from Claude, without having to move workloads out of Amazon's cloud. Evaluating alternatives could also be due to commercial pressure and not necessarily a sign of a damaged partnership between Amazon and Anthropic. Whether or not Amazon is actually considering switching entirely to OpenAI's models or its own Nova models remains unknown at this moment.
    • Samsung introduces new AI classroom tools and interactive displays at ISTELive 2026

      By Fiza Ali · Posted

      Samsung introduces new AI classroom tools and interactive displays at ISTELive 2026 by Fiza Ali Samsung has announced several new education-focused software features and interactive displays for schools during ISTELive 2026, taking place in Orlando, Florida, from 28 June to 1 July. The focus of these updates is on making shared classroom displays easier to use for teachers while giving IT administrators more control over managing devices. One of the key additions is the Samsung Account Management Solution (AMS). In many schools, multiple teachers share the same interactive display throughout the day, which means signing in and setting everything up can become repetitive. With AMS, teachers can log in by scanning a QR code or tapping an NFC-enabled ID card. Once signed in, their personalised workspace, including wallpapers, bookmarks, app shortcuts, and files, can be instantly accessed through Home Personalisation. Samsung has also included a screen lock feature, allowing teachers to lock the display if they need to step away briefly. Furthermore, the company is also updating its Education Portal with new tools designed for school IT administrators. The portal will allow IT administrators to register teachers, enrol devices, and manage user access from a central dashboard. Administrators can also link NFC cards to teacher accounts, making sign-ins quicker across shared displays. Another addition is a Tags feature that lets schools organise displays by building or classroom. Those tags can also be used to send emergency notifications to selected Samsung Interactive Displays through compatible platforms such as InformaCast and Raptor. Moreover, the tech giant's AI Assistant is gaining several new features aimed at supporting everyday classroom tasks such as lesson planning and classroom engagement. One of the features is Circle to Search, which lets teachers circle text or images on the display to quickly find related information, videos, or web results without interrupting the lesson. The content can then be brought into Samsung Whiteboard. Another feature, Live Transcript, converts spoken lessons into real-time captions, which could be useful for students with hearing impairments or those in multilingual classrooms. The AI Assistant also introduces AI Summary and AI Quiz. The summary tool creates summaries of recorded lessons, while AI Quiz generates questions based on lesson content so teachers can quickly check how well students are following along. Teachers signed in through Samsung AMS can also return to their previous AI-generated lesson materials without logging in again. Alongside the software updates, Samsung has expanded its Android-based Interactive Display range with three new models: the WAF-S, WAFX-PS, and WAHX-M. The WAF-S and WAFX-PS ship with Android 16, bringing updates to security, accessibility, and overall usability while maintaining compatibility with Google's education services including Google Classroom and Google Drive through EDLA certification. Meanwhile, the new WAHX-M is the biggest addition to the lineup, introducing a 98-inch display for larger spaces such as lecture halls and conference rooms. It will also be available in 65-inch, 75-inch and 86-inch sizes. Samsung says the WAHX-M further includes on-device AI features such as voice commands, text-to-speech, and an AI calculator, alongside support for Samsung AMS and AI Assistant. Samsung AI Assistant has been available since April, while Samsung AMS and the updated Education Portal will begin rolling out in July.
    • Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount

      By JayZJay · Posted

      It's been $24 (single) or $89 (4-pack) for many days on both Amazon and Walmart as far as I know. That isn't a big discount. If these end up like the 1st gen, the 4-pack will routinely get down around $80, give or take a dollar. I think they have even hit $69 at times.
    • Microsoft brings Claude to its own Azure infrastructure, powered by Nvidia GB300 Blackwell

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Microsoft brings Claude to its own Azure infrastructure, powered by Nvidia GB300 Blackwell by Karthik Mudaliar Anthropic's Claude models are now generally available in Microsoft Foundry on Azure and are running on Nvidia's GB300 Blackwell Ultra systems. Nvidia wrote in its announcement that the models are hosted on Microsoft Azure and accelerated by GB300 Blackwell Ultra GPUs, with Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking used to support larger agentic systems and specialized sub-agents that can operate across business domains. This is great for customers and enterprises that want to build autonomous and domain-specific AI agents using Claude without moving outside Microsoft’s cloud platform. Microsoft currently offers Claude models in Foundry in two forms: “Hosted on Azure,” which runs end-to-end on Azure infrastructure and is generally available, and “Hosted on Anthropic infrastructure,” which remains in preview. This separation is quite important for organizations that have procurement, compliance, data processing, or internal governance requirements tied to Azure. Anthropic currently has 11 Claude models listed in Microsoft Foundry, including Opus 4.8, Sonnet 4.6, and even the unavailable Mythos and Fable models. Billing is handled through Claude Consumption Units (CCUs). Microsoft says CCU is an invoicing unit for Claude models in Foundry, with token usage converted using Anthropic’s published per-model token rates. The usage is billed through Azure Marketplace just like models from other distributors and appears on the customer's Azure invoice, while eligible spend can count against a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment. For starters, GB300 NVL72 is a rack-scale, fully liquid-cooled system that combines 72 Blackwell Ultra GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs. Nvidia has listed 37TB of fast memory, 130TB/s of NVLink bandwidth, and FP4 Tensor Core performance of up to 1,440 petaflops with sparsity. The deal is also part of a three-way partnership between Microsoft, Nvidia, and Anthropic. Under the deal, Anthropic has committed to buying $30 billion in Azure compute capacity and contracting additional capacity up to one gigawatt. Nvidia and Microsoft also said they would invest up to $10 billion and $5 billion in Anthropic, respectively.
    • WhatsApp is getting usernames, and you can reserve your preferred one now

      By Fiza Ali · Posted

      WhatsApp is getting usernames, and you can reserve your preferred one now by Fiza Ali Sharing your phone number isn't always something you want to do, especially with people you've just met. Whether it's someone from a class, a local community group, or a sports team chat, handing over your number can feel like giving away more personal information than necessary. That's exactly the problem WhatsApp is trying to solve with its upcoming usernames feature. The company has announced that users can now reserve a unique WhatsApp username ahead of the feature's wider rollout later this year. Once usernames become available, they'll let people connect without revealing their phone numbers. It's a change that makes a lot of sense for group chats. Right now, everyone in the group can see your phone number. With usernames enabled, that won't necessarily be the case when someone contacts you for the first time. WhatsApp says it's opening username reservations early because more than three billion people use the app, meaning plenty of people are likely to want the same usernames. Reserving one now gives users a better chance of securing the name they actually want before the feature launches more broadly. If your preferred username is already taken, WhatsApp will also offer a built-in username generator to suggest available alternatives. The feature isn't only aimed at individual users. Creators, businesses, and organisations will be able to claim the same username they already use on Instagram or Facebook, making it easier to keep a consistent identity across Meta's apps. Furthermore, privacy is a big part of how WhatsApp is introducing usernames. There won't be a public directory where people can browse or search for usernames. Instead, people will need to know your exact username before they can start a conversation with you. Additionally, users can also choose to enable a username key, which adds another layer of control by requiring people to enter that key before sending a message. Once the feature rolls out, people who choose to use a username will no longer have their phone number shown when messaging a person or business for the first time. If you want to reserve a username, make sure you're running the latest version of WhatsApp, then head to Settings > Account > Username. The tech giant says usernames will roll out gradually over the coming months, and users will receive an in-app notification when the feature becomes available in their country.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      269
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      65
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!