OPENAI APPEARS NOT TO HAVE VISITED KEY STARGATE UK SITE

OpenAI does not appear to have visited one of the principal sites designated for Stargate UK, a multibillion-pound datacentre project announced as a centrepiece of US-UK technology cooperation. The Guardian has established that £20bn of the £30bn in investment promoted by UK government ministers appears to have been hypothetical rather than committed. OpenAI paused plans for the project in April, citing concerns over regulation and energy costs. The findings suggest that the initiative, announced during Donald Trump's September visit to London, was substantially a press release rather than a developed commercial proposal.

Sources involved in setting up Stargate UK indicated that the UK government approached the company Nscale and OpenAI shortly before Trump's visit, requesting they agree to develop the site at Cobalt Park in North Tyneside. Stargate UK was intended to build on the model of the US Stargate project, in which OpenAI committed $500bn towards AI infrastructure. The British project was to involve OpenAI, Nscale (which is constructing a supercomputer in Essex), and Nvidia, a manufacturer of AI chips, developing facilities across multiple locations. Cobalt Park was designated an "AI growth zone" during Trump's visit.

A freedom of information request obtained by the Guardian reveals that neither OpenAI nor Nscale held meetings with local authorities overseeing the North Tyneside site. Only Nvidia recorded visits to the North East combined authority responsible for the Stargate UK location. The discrepancy raises questions about the depth of planning and commitment underpinning one of the government's most prominent AI development initiatives.