OpenAI to open 500‑plus capacity London office — even as UK "Stargate" build stalls

New London hub

OpenAI has signed a lease for an 88,500 sq ft office in King's Cross, it said, a space sized to hold more than 500 employees. The company currently employs roughly 200 people in London and in February said it would make the city its largest research hub outside the U.S. "The UK has an incredible depth of talent," Phoebe Thacker, OpenAI's London site lead, said — short and sweet. Talent first; servers later?

Stargate pause raises questions

Just days before the lease was confirmed, OpenAI paused plans for its U.K. Stargate infrastructure project, citing high energy costs and regulatory headwinds. It has been reported that discussions with partner Nscale are still ongoing, according to a source with direct knowledge. Industrial power prices in the U.K. are among the world's highest; critics argue that steep energy and grid access delays are turning ambitious buildouts into white elephants.

Funding rush, infrastructure gap

London's AI cluster remains magnetic — Google DeepMind, Meta, Synthesia and others crowd King's Cross — and recent startup funding has been eye‑popping. The U.K. launched an AI Opportunities Action Plan in 2025 and, per Dealroom, AI funding has reached about $6.7 billion so far this year versus $8.2 billion for all of 2025. Big raises include Nscale's $2 billion in March, Wayve's $1.2 billion in February and ElevenLabs' $500 million. Money flows. Power? Not so fast.

Why this matters

The move underscores a split strategy: invest in people and research presence while stepping back from capital‑heavy, power‑hungry infrastructure. It has been reported that U.K. officials have been courting rivals too, following a Pentagon spat with Anthropic, including proposals to entice the company with London expansion and a possible dual listing. Can the U.K. turn its funding momentum and brainpower into real build capacity? That's the emotional beat here — hope and hubris colliding, with the lights on one side and the plug on the other.

Sources: cnbc.com