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Stargate, the $500bn US data centre project spearheaded by OpenAI and SoftBank, is weighing a future investment in the UK, as it looks overseas to build out the global infrastructure needed to underpin powerful artificial intelligence models.
The UK has emerged as one of its top choices amid a recent push by Sir Keir Starmer’s government to turbocharge investment into its growing AI industry, including a plan to boost developers’ access to energy, according to three people close to the matter.
It comes almost three months after Stargate was unveiled by US President Donald Trump in a move he lauded as a “declaration of confidence in America”.
The high-profile venture, billed as a huge infrastructure project to boost the US AI industry, is raising $100bn to spend on AI infrastructure projects, with the figure rising to as much as $500bn over the next four years. It is building a data centre in Abilene, Texas as well as looking at options across 16 states in the US.
The project will initially be based exclusively in the US with the venture concentrating on “getting shovels in the ground” domestically, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. While the focus remains on American infrastructure, investment in the UK has been considered as part of a future international expansion if the project proves successful.
“We want to go where the compute is,” said one person involved in the project, who added that Germany and France were also attractive candidates.
Plans by the UK government to try to boost data centres’ access to electricity have spurred the project’s interest, according to one person involved in allocating Stargate’s spending. “This could be a really great opportunity to encourage that investment to happen,” they said.
OpenAI said the UK was one of its most important markets outside of the US. Stargate will initially exclusively serve the $300bn start-up, according to a person familiar with the matter.
OpenAI and SoftBank said in a joint statement: “As announced in January, Stargate remains fully committed to investing up to $500bn over the next four years to build AI infrastructure in the US.”
Earlier this month, energy companies and Big Tech groups met UK ministers as part of the government’s new AI Energy Council, which aims to make sure the UK can serve the power-hungry AI sector. Many developers and manufacturers have complained about lengthy waits to connect to the electricity grid and high electricity prices.
Over the past few months, OpenAI has been lobbying European governments to relax regulations and invest in data centre infrastructure. Last Wednesday, the European Commission announced its plan to invest more in AI data centres and simplify rules around its AI Act, a sweeping law that regulates the most powerful AI models.
Stargate is still in the process of raising an initial $100bn to invest in data centres. SoftBank, the project’s financial lead, is expected to put forward tens of billions of dollars as a mixture of debt and equity. It is also in discussion with private insurers, private equity groups and larger financial services companies.
But the project’s vast ambition — as well as the wider AI data centre industry — faces challenges from Trump’s new tariff regime, which has disrupted supply chains and increased the price of importing various components required for data centres.
According to analysis by Altana, which maps global supply chains, Trump’s 145 per cent tariff on China alone could mean US data centre developers face more than an $11bn increase in annual costs.
Additional reporting by Rachel Millard in London