OpenAI Visits Loughton Site for First Time, Calls Existing Scaffolding 'A Real Head Start'

LONDON — Nine months after announcing what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the most important AI infrastructure investment in British history, OpenAI representatives visited the project's flagship Loughton, Essex data center site for the first time Wednesday and emerged cautiously optimistic.

"The scaffolding is already up," said a company spokesperson. "That's honestly further along than a lot of our sites."

The visit, which lasted approximately forty minutes, revealed that the planned campus currently operates as a scaffolding hire yard, a function it has served continuously since before the partnership with Nscale was announced during President Trump's September 2025 UK state visit. Land registry records show no change in site ownership. Local planning officials confirmed no applications have been filed. The £1.9 billion government contract referenced in joint press materials has not been signed.

OpenAI described the visit as "Phase One reconnaissance," adding that the delegation found the load-bearing infrastructure "already substantially in place."

The scaffolding hire company reached at the site said it was not aware of any arrangements and asked that its equipment not be described as compute infrastructure.

Nscale did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Prime Minister Starmer declined to clarify whether the government had also visited the site before endorsing the project.

The Loughton campus is now targeting a 2027 groundbreaking, subject to planning approval and a visit from someone authorized to sign a lease.

"We consider Phase Zero complete," the OpenAI spokesperson said.