OpenAI has shelved its flagship British data center project "Stargate UK", which is undoubtedly a blow to the UK's efforts to build "autonomous" AI computing power.The company blamed high energy costs and an uncertain regulatory environment for the delay.The project was originally scheduled to start in the northeast of England in the first quarter of 2026.
The plan includes deploying thousands of artificial intelligence chips through data center start-up Nscale. This cooperation was announced at the same time as US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK in September last year. It is part of a blockbuster investment package of tens of billions of dollars led by technology giants such as Nvidia and Microsoft.
The project was expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to one of the UK's core "artificial intelligence growth areas".
The British government has placed artificial intelligence and technology at the core of the economic growth agenda, and hailed the science and technology cooperation agreement reached with the United States in September last year as "a decisive step towards the UK's global AI leadership."
Although OpenAI just completed a record $122 billion in financing last month, the decision to indefinitely suspend the "Stargate" UK project without announcing a restart timetable marks the latest change in the company's investment strategy.
OpenAI and its partners, including Oracle and SoftBank, initially announced that "Stargate" was a $500 billion plan to build large-scale artificial intelligence computing facilities around the world.
In recent weeks, OpenAI has also reduced its investment in its flagship "Stargate" data center in Abilene, Texas, and has shut down its AI video application Sora in order to refocus resources on competing with Anthropic and the resurgent Google.
OpenAI said concerns about the UK government's AI policy - particularly a controversial reform that has been delayed - also contributed to the delay. The original reform would have lowered the threshold for artificial intelligence companies to use copyrighted content in training data.
OpenAI said: “We are still exploring the ‘Stargate’ UK project and will advance the plan when the right conditions such as regulations and energy costs can support long-term infrastructure investment.”
The company added that it remained committed to expansion in London, its largest international research hub.
The British government responded: "Our focus is to continue to create the right conditions for investment in artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure in the UK, and we will continue to work with OpenAI and other leading artificial intelligence companies to increase the UK's computing power."
Last month, while Nscale received $2 billion in new financing, it also added former Meta executives Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg to its board of directors, but the company declined to comment.
In addition to cooperating with OpenAI to promote Norway's "Stargate" project, this UK-based start-up with a valuation of US$14.6 billion has also reached a multi-billion dollar cooperation agreement with Microsoft.