OpenAI's $500bn Stargate venture weighs future UK investment: report

Stargate, a $500bn (R9.43-trillion) US data-centre project funded by SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, is weighing a future investment in the UK as it explores overseas locations to build out AI infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to take a pro-innovation approach to regulation, make public data available to researchers and create zones for data centres as he strives to make the UK an AI "superpower".

These efforts to boost data centres' access to electricity have attracted the project's interest along with Germany and France, which have also emerged as attractive candidates, FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. SoftBank and OpenAI in a joint statement to Reuters reiterated Stargate's January commitment of investing up to $500bn on AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in February signalled his willingness to bring a Stargate-like AI programme to Europe, saying his company would "love" to do a Stargate Europe.

US President Donald Trump unveiled the Stargate project in January as a private sector investment aimed to fund infrastructure for AI, aiming to outpace rival nations in the business.

Investor enthusiasm for the AI sector has surged significantly in recent years, driven by the widespread adoption of chatbots and the emergence of sophisticated AI agents.