The UK government has confirmed that two sites in the North East of England will host the nation’s second designated artificial intelligence (AI) growth zone, advancing efforts to position the country as a global leader in AI infrastructure and innovation. The zone will be based at Cobalt Park, near Newcastle, and at Cambois in Blyth.
This move follows a competitive process that drew over 200 expressions of interest earlier this year. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the zone would harness the region’s industrial legacy, abundant low-carbon energy, world-class universities and emerging technology sectors.
AI growth zones are designed to support datacentres requiring at least 500MW of reliable power, with accelerated planning approvals to overcome development delays. Cobalt Park already hosts three colocation datacentres connected to the National Grid, providing a ready foundation.
OpenAI will be a key partner at the Cobalt site through its Stargate UK initiative with NVIDIA and Nscale, aimed at building sovereign AI compute capacity in the UK. Launched in July 2025 following a memorandum of understanding with the government, the project will enable local deployment of AI models for sensitive or jurisdiction-specific tasks. “The UK has long been a pioneer in AI,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.
In Blyth, Blackstone has committed £10 billion to develop one of Europe’s largest AI datacentres, with an additional £20 billion expected from partners following the site’s designation. The development is forecast to create around 4,000 jobs and expand the site's energy capacity to 1.1GW within six years. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the investment a “huge vote of confidence” in the UK’s global AI standing.
The announcement comes as tech firms scale up UK operations. Nvidia recently unveiled plans for an £11 billion GPU hub by 2026. Alongside partners Nscale and CoreWeave, the project will deploy over 120,000 GPUs to support AI workloads.
The growth zone also aligns with the government’s regional development goals. Technology secretary Liz Kendall said it would create thousands of high-quality jobs and unlock £30 billion in regional value, calling it a catalyst for a new industrial revolution.
This forms part of the broader AI Growth Zones programme launched in 2025, aimed at accelerating national AI capabilities by targeting de-industrialised areas with high energy capacity and simplified planning routes. The North East’s selection, backed by major private investment and international partners, marks a pivotal moment in the UK’s AI strategy—centred on infrastructure, skills and inclusive regional growth.
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