Stargate UK will move forward when ‘right conditions’ enable ‘long-term infrastructure investment’, OpenAI said.

OpenAI is pausing its Stargate initiative in the UK after citing energy costs and regulatory burdens.

In a statement to major news publications, the company said that it is continuing to explore Stargate UK and will move forward when the “right conditions such as regulation and the cost of energy” enable it to make “long-term infrastructure investment”.

OpenAI first announced the project last September in collaboration with Nvidia and UK AI infrastructure provider Nscale. The initiative was seen as a step forward in cross-national technology partnership, with its announcement coinciding with US president Donald Trump’s visit to the UK.

For UK prime minister Keir Starmer, Stargate represented a major nod from Big Tech firms supporting the country’s push to become a leader in the space. The OpenAI project was meant to support the UK’s ‘AI Growth Zone’, expected to create 5,000 new jobs and bring in £30bn in private investment.

Other companies, including Microsoft and Nvidia have also made multibillion-dollar investment commitments in the UK. A government spokesperson told Bloomberg that the UK’s AI sector has attracted more than £100bn since Starmer came into power in 2024.

Launched early last year, Stargate is a $500bn private sector investment project into OpenAI’s infrastructure. The project’s initial equity funders include OpenAI, Oracle, MGX and SoftBank, with Microsoft, Nvidia and Arm among the key technology partners.

A year since launching, Stargate’s Texas facility is already training AI systems, while a number of projects are underway in the US, as well as in the UAE and Norway. The company also announced a tie-up with India’s Tata Consultancy Services as part of Stargate.

OpenAI has been shuttering plans to refocus towards enterprise tools as it plans for an initial public offering later this year. Late last month, it put plans for an erotic ChatGPT on hold “indefinitely”, just days after it shut down its controversial AI video generator Sora.

It recently announced a $122bn funding round, placing the AI giant at a post-money valuation of $852bn.

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