The Guardian has discovered that OpenAI never conducted a visit to its Stargate UK location.

      A Guardian investigation found that OpenAI seemingly did not visit a crucial site for its Stargate UK data centre project prior to the public announcement. The partnership was put on hold in April 2026, and a prior inquiry revealed that the proposed supercomputer site was merely a scaffolding yard with no signs of construction.

      The Guardian reported on Friday that OpenAI apparently neglected to visit a significant location designated for its Stargate UK data centre before the project was made public. This finding raises further doubts regarding whether the UK government's primary AI infrastructure initiative was based on press releases rather than proper due diligence.

      Stargate UK, a collaboration involving OpenAI, Nvidia, and British cloud provider Nscale, was announced in September 2025 during Donald Trump's visit to the UK. The project promised to roll out up to 8,000 Nvidia GPUs at sites in north-east England by the first quarter of 2026, with the potential to scale to 31,000 in the future. It was part of a larger £31 billion package of technology investments that the government claimed would enhance Britain's competitiveness in AI.

      Earlier, in March 2026, the Guardian looked into the actual status of the project, with reporter Aisha Down visiting Nscale’s proposed supercomputer site in Loughton, Essex. She discovered an operational scaffolding yard with no indication that construction had begun on a facility that Nscale had asserted would be ready by late 2026.

      In September 2025, Nscale claimed to have “confirmed” its UK investment with the purchase of the Loughton site, promising 23,040 Nvidia GPUs operational by early 2027. However, land records from that time revealed no proof of Nscale’s ownership, as the site was still registered to another company.

      The March investigation also uncovered that the UK government had issued a press release regarding a £1.9 billion investment contract with Nscale, yet no such contract had been executed. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology acknowledged it was “not playing an active role in auditing these commitments.”

      The government's AI Opportunities Action Plan, released in January 2025, mentioned £14 billion in private commitments for UK AI infrastructure, based on self-reported figures from companies rather than verified disclosures—an approach the Guardian described as leading to “phantom investments.”

      In April 2026, OpenAI officially paused Stargate UK, citing the high cost of industrial electricity in Britain, which is approximately four times greater than in the United States, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Additionally, it pointed to outstanding regulatory issues concerning AI and copyright.

      A spokesperson indicated that the company would “continue to explore Stargate UK” when “regulation and the cost of energy allow for long-term infrastructure investment.” No planning applications had been submitted, and construction had yet to start at Cobalt Park, the main Stargate UK site near Newcastle.

      While Stargate UK faced delays, Nscale directed €695 million towards Portugal to provide 66,000 Nvidia Rubin GPUs to a Microsoft data centre campus in Sines. The company, which achieved a $14.6 billion valuation within two years, found more advantageous energy prices and planning conditions in Europe.

      Nscale's smaller UK initiative with BT and Nvidia, aimed at delivering up to 14 megawatts of sovereign AI capacity across three existing BT sites, is moving forward. However, it represents only a fraction of what Stargate UK had promised, and its limited scale highlights the disparity between the government's AI aspirations and the market's willingness to invest in Britain under current electricity costs.

      The UK government continued to announce substantial AI investment figures during London Tech Week in June 2026, including commitments from AMD and Nebius. Whether these pledges will face the same level of scrutiny as Stargate UK remains to be seen.

      The Stargate UK situation reveals a fundamental issue in how the UK tracks AI investment. The government records pledges at the time of announcement but does not verify them, resulting in a disconnect between press releases and actual data centres that could span years or, as highlighted in a separate report on the UK’s AI-climate conflict, may never be reconciled.