OpenAI Abandons Stargate UK Over Energy, Copyright

OpenAI has shelved its Stargate UK data centre project, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ambition to make Britain an AI superpower. The scheme, announced last September during Trump's state visit as part of a £31 billion package of US tech investment, has been paused citing prohibitively high industrial energy costs and uncertainty over copyright reform. OpenAI had sought a regime allowing AI firms to train models on copyrighted material unless rights holders opted out, but ministers abandoned the proposal after backlash from creative industries. Campaigners warn Britain's steep electricity tariffs and regulatory confusion are driving investors elsewhere, leaving British SMEs at a competitive disadvantage.