Lenovo will join Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus to create a new hub for AI innovation, as the global technology company further expands its research and development presence in the UK.

The new hub forms part of Lenovo’s AI Technology Centre (LATC), which aims to shape the future of AI-powered computing and accelerate the real-world deployment of safe and sustainable AI technologies.

Imperial has been selected as the partner of choice for Lenovo thanks to its world leading reputation for academic excellence. The university is ranked the top university in the UK and Europe, and second globally (QS World University Rankings 2024 & 2025), and is home to the UK’s largest concentration of computing and AI researchers, powering an entrepreneurial ecosystem of successful AI startups and spinouts.

Through the London centre, which will be based at Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus, Lenovo’s researchers will focus on the real-world deployment of foundation models, the evolution of agentic AI, and the coordination of intelligent systems that work cohesively across different environments, alongside Imperial’s world‑leading researchers and data scientists.

The centre will partner Lenovo’s AI researchers with Imperial’s thriving ecosystem of academic expertise, startups and industry partners working at the intersection of AI, data science and deep tech. The partnership will also attract talent from across London and the UK, with highly skilled new STEM roles creating additional economic value.

Professor Mary Ryan, Vice Provost (Research and Enterprise) at Imperial College London, said: “Imperial’s partnership with Lenovo represents an exciting step forward in our mission to accelerate AI innovation for societal benefit, in line with our Science for Humanity strategy. By bringing Lenovo’s global technological capabilities together with Imperial’s world-leading research community within our entrepreneurial ecosystem, this new hub will co-create AI technologies that are safe, sustainable and deployable in the real world from the heart of our White City Deep Tech Campus.”

Tolga Kurtoglu, SVP & Chief Technology Officer at Lenovo, commented: “The AI era will be defined not just by what models can do, but by how safely and responsibly we can deploy them in the real world. This new London hub with Imperial College London strengthens Lenovo’s AI Technology Centre and brings our researchers closer to one of the world’s most renowned academic centres for AI, data science and deep tech. Together, we will advance foundation models and agentic AI with a secure-by-design approach that’s grounded in privacy, resilience and sustainability, so end-users and organisations can adopt AI with confidence.”

Through the partnership, Imperial and Lenovo will work closely with the UK Government including the Office for Foreign Investment (OFI) and the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) to leverage the UK’s R&D and translation ability to develop new technologies.

The Minister of State for Investment, Lord Stockwood, said: “This announcement demonstrates the UK’s growing strength as a global destination for cutting‑edge research and innovation. Lenovo’s decision to expand its R&D presence here, in partnership with Imperial College London, highlights the confidence that world‑leading technology companies place in our talent, our universities, and our innovation ecosystem. This new hub at White City will play an important role in advancing safe, sustainable AI technologies and in creating high‑value opportunities that support our long‑term economic growth.”

Janet Coyle, Managing Director Grow London at London & Partners, said: “London is a leader in AI thanks to partnerships like this. A testament to the city’s power of convergence and connection. Not only a centre from academic excellence but one that attracts world leading technology companies to build and grow here. London & Partners is proud to play a role in facilitating partnerships of this calibre and to support The White City Innovation District – key to the London Growth Plan that aims to drive the city’s economic development over the next 10 years.”

This new centre builds on a track record of collaboration between Imperial and Lenovo. This includes ICICLE (Imperial College Intel Corporation Lenovo), a collaboration which has led to the deployment of one of the UK’s first commercial data‑centre implementations of Lenovo’s new Australia‑platform direct liquid‑cooled sustainable high‑performance computing AI system, designed to nurture the next generation of High Performance Computing and AI researchers.  

LATC will add three key locations to Lenovo’s global footprint which, as well as London, include new centres in Edinburgh and Riyadh, due to open later this year.