OpenAI pulls out of landmark £31B UK investment package
7 hours ago
- #Energy Costs
- #UK Tech Policy
- #AI Investment
- OpenAI has paused the Stargate UK project, intended to boost the UK's AI capabilities, due to high energy costs and regulatory issues.
- The project was part of a UK-US AI deal announced in September, involving planned investments, but many have been revealed as 'phantom investments' with delays, such as a supercomputer site still being a scaffolding yard.
- Stargate UK aimed to provide 'sovereign compute' infrastructure for secure AI model operation within the UK, but OpenAI's commitments were vague, focusing on exploring the use of 8,000 Nvidia chips.
- Critics highlight a pattern of U-turns by OpenAI and government overhyping of AI projects, with warnings about believing tech firm claims and the environmental impact of data centers.
- High UK energy costs, exacerbated by geopolitical conflicts, and lack of clear demand or government commitment are cited as key reasons for the project's halt, raising concerns about the UK's competitiveness for tech investment.