Point-by-Point Comparison
Data Sovereignty
100% UK/EU owned. Zero US jurisdiction. No CLOUD Act exposure. Data never leaves UK/EU.
US-owned companies (AWS, Azure, GCP). Subject to CLOUD Act. Can be forced to hand over UK/EU data to US government.
Pricing Transparency
H200 at £8.50/hour. B200 at £12/hour. No hidden fees. No egress charges. Clear UK pricing.
H200 at £14-18/hour. B200 at £20-25/hour. Complex pricing. Egress fees. Regional markups. Surprise bills.
Cost Savings
40-60% lower costs. No hyperscaler markup. UK/EU pricing without foreign margin.
Premium pricing. 40-60% markup vs sovereign providers. Pay for US brand premium.
GDPR Compliance
Native GDPR compliance. UK ICO registered. EU data stays in EU. No third-country transfers.
Complex compliance. Requires SCCs. US parent company access. CLOUD Act conflicts with GDPR.
Support Response
Direct access to UK engineers. 24/7 UK-based support. Same timezone. Veteran-run team.
Tiered support packages. Offshore teams. Timezone delays. Pay extra for premium support.
Infrastructure Location
5 UK/EU data centers (Manchester, Liverpool, Durham, Düsseldorf, Marseille). Canal-cooled. Sustainable.
EU regions available but US-controlled. Data can be accessed from US. No true sovereignty.
Deployment Speed
Instant provisioning. Same-day setup. Direct configuration. No account review delays.
Account approval delays. Capacity constraints. Regional quotas. Complex onboarding.
Contract Flexibility
Hourly or monthly. No long-term lock-in. Scale up/down freely. Cancel anytime.
Committed use discounts require 1-3 year contracts. Penalties for early termination. Complex reservation models.
UK Economic Impact
405+ UK regional jobs. £50M+ UK investment. 24K meals/month to food banks. UK tax revenue.
Profits flow to US. Limited UK employment. Tax optimization strategies. No community impact.
Government Approval
MOD engagement. Air-gapped options. UK security cleared. DORA ready. BSI C5 certified.
Cannot be used for air-gapped deployments. US CLOUD Act prevents true sovereignty. Not suitable for sensitive government work.
Real-World Cost Comparison
Based on actual H200/B200 pricing in UK region (Dec 2024)
10-node H200 cluster
50-node B200 cluster
100-node mixed cluster
Hidden Hyperscaler Costs
Charges that aren't in the headline pricing
These "small" charges add up fast. On a 50-node cluster, hidden costs can add £10,000-20,000/month to your hyperscaler bill.
The CLOUD Act Problem
Why hyperscalers can't guarantee UK/EU data sovereignty
What is the CLOUD Act?
The US CLOUD Act (2018) allows US law enforcement to demand data from US companies, even if that data is stored in the UK or EU. This applies to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Why This Matters
- Your UK/EU data can be accessed by US government without UK court oversight
- Conflicts with GDPR and EU data protection laws
- No true sovereignty - foreign jurisdiction always applies
- Unsuitable for government, defence, or sensitive commercial work
MSAI GPU Solution
- 100% UK-owned company - no US parent, no US jurisdiction
- All data stays in UK/EU - never touches US servers
- Only UK law applies - full legal protection
- MOD engagement for government deployments