OpenAI Pauses Stargate UK Data Center Project

OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle unveiled the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project on January 21, 2025. On September 16 that year, OpenAI joined Nvidia and Nscale to advance Stargate UK, aiming to expand domestic computing capacity and support the British government's AI-driven economic strategy.

OpenAI recently paused plans for Stargate UK's flagship data center because of high British electricity prices and regulatory uncertainty. The original plan called for Nvidia chips to be installed at Cobalt Park in northeast England, with up to 8,000 GPUs deployed in the first quarter of 2026. The delay leaves the promised computing capacity unrealized and tests Britain's policy of using AI to drive investment and growth.