North East AI Growth Zone taskforce launched

The UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall announced a new taskforce to fast-track planning, investment, training and site development for the North East AI Growth Zone, bringing together firms (including Nscale, OpenAI, NVIDIA), universities and skills providers to get sites at Cambois and Cobalt Park operational quickly.

• Main action & priorities: Taskforce launched to unblock planning, secure investment and ensure energy access; spades expected in the ground within weeks; Phase one of Stargate UK to deploy up to 8,000 NVIDIA GPUs early next year with potential to scale to 31,000 GPUs; Growth Zone designation is intended to unlock up to £30 billion in investment and Blackstone has committed £10 billion to the Cambois site with potential for an extra £20 billion from future partners.
• Background & additional commitments: The taskforce includes universities (Newcastle, Durham, Sunderland, Northumbria), skills providers and industry; Cobalt Park offers 2.2 million sq ft, subsea fibre and a pathway to expand power to around 500 MVA; linked UK-US technology pact referenced and announcement that X-Energy and Centrica plan up to 12 advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool (projected to supply up to 1.5 million homes and generate £12 billion in value, creating ~2,500 jobs).