A $500 billion AI mega-project with the backing of OpenAI and SoftBank is eyeing the UK as a possible home for future infrastructure and Downing Street is already rolling out the red carpet.
On the surface, the idea of the UK becoming a node in Stargate’s global AI network sounds like exactly the kind of moonshot Sir Keir Starmer’s government wants: high-tech investment, future-proof jobs, and a seat at the table in the race for artificial intelligence supremacy.
But is it all positive?
But before we get carried away with Silicon Valley stardust and Tokyo’s billions, let’s stop and ask: at what cost – and to whom?
The UK has made no secret of its ambition to become a “global AI powerhouse.” We’ve hosted summits, promised planning reforms, and even set up an AI Energy Council to untangle the gridlock keeping developers from plugging in. But accommodating a project like Stargate isn’t like building another data centre in Slough. It means committing enormous chunks of land, power, and political capital to service the needs of a few trillion-parameter models – most of which will still primarily serve American tech monopolies.
Let’s not forget, Stargate is still designed first and foremost for OpenAI. The UK is, at best, a second phase, an add-on – contingent on whether Texas gets built first and global supply chains, already rattled by Trump’s tariffs, can hold up.
And then there’s the elephant in the server room: energy. These hyperscale data centres are power-hungry monsters. As the West Midlands knows all too well, the grid is already strained – and that’s before factoring in public EV targets, green hydrogen, or electrification of industry. Are we genuinely prepared to prioritise GPU racks over local manufacturing or clean transport infrastructure?
The project must bring significant benefits to the UK
Of course, investment is welcome – especially in a sluggish post-Brexit economy. But it must be on our terms. If Stargate comes to Britain, it should bring skills development, energy reform, and real knowledge transfer – not just plug-and-play server farms that extract value and export it west.
Let’s be bold, but not blind. The UK can be a leader in AI, but we must build our own vision, not simply lease out land to someone else’s. The data wars are under way – and sovereignty, both digital and political, is up for grabs.
