The sites included Cobalt Park, part of a government-designated “AI Growth Zone” in the North East of England.
However, OpenAI has yet to take up the chips, with a spokesperson telling POLITICO that while the company “continue[s] to explore Stargate UK,” it will only proceed with the project “when the right conditions such as regulation and the cost of energy enable long-term infrastructure investment.”
OpenAI said its investment decisions are based on multiple factors, including predictable rules on issues such as copyright. The government last month ditched earlier proposals to allow AI firms to use copyrighted content unless rights holders expressly opt out, in a move widely criticized by the tech industry.
“We see huge potential for the U.K.’s AI future,” the OpenAI spokesperson added, noting that the company continues to work with the U.K. government on public sector AI adoption and to invest as part of plans to make London its largest research hub outside of the U.S. Nscale and OpenAI remain in commercial discussions.
A Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said: “Our focus is on continuing to create the right conditions for investment in the U.K.’s AI and data center infrastructure. We are continuing to work with OpenAI and other leading AI companies to strengthen U.K. compute capacity.”
Growing pains
OpenAI’s damning assessment of the U.K.’s attractiveness for infrastructure investment is major a blow to the government’s AI ambitions.