OpenAI will begin storing data on British soil for the first time later this month, following a new agreement with the UK Government in a move designed to help its customers maintain security and meet strict data protection requirements.

By signing an MOU with the government, OpenAI said that it would work to expand the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities, making the technology widely available and ‘served in the UK, for the UK’.

Building on the partnership struck between Labour and OpenAI earlier this year, the plans will see firms allowed to store data on ‘secure, sovereign servers’ operated by the Californian firm, with the Ministry of Justice the first to benefit as part of the wider agreement, which will also bring ChatGPT to MOJ civil servants.

The government hopes that, once rolled out across the country, access to OpenAI’s sovereign servers could help UK organisations tighten privacy controls, improve transparency, and, crucially, bolster national security amid escalating cyber-attacks.

Set to be outlined in more detail by the Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, the deal is another signal in a clear shift toward sovereign AI control, a trend gathering pace globally as governments scramble for strategic footing in an AI-dominated future.

This year, the UK Government set up a Sovereign AI Unit, backed by MOUs signed with major tech firms including Anthropic, Nvidia, Cohere, and OpenAI, which will provide millions for research into UK-first frontier AI capabilities.

“Our partnership with OpenAI places Britain firmly in the driving seat of the global tech revolution – leading the world in innovation and using technology to deliver fairness and opportunity for every corner of the United Kingdom,” said Lammy.

OpenAI has already laid some of the groundwork. Last month, the company introduced its Stargate UK project, an AI infrastructure partnership with NVIDIA and Nscale designed to strengthen the UK’s sovereign compute capabilities.

Stargate will see OpenAI tap up to 8,000 GPUs in early 2026, with scope to scale to 31,000 over time, a capacity which the tech firm said would allow its most powerful models to run on local computing power for use cases across critical public services, regulated industries like finance, and national security. 

Of course, OpenAI isn’t ploughing millions into the UK simply to beef up the country’s national security. Britain is a top-five market globally for OpenAI paid subscribers and API developers, with a host of public and private sector organisations using its technology.

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By bolstering the UK’s sovereign AI power, the company is essentially protecting this vast investment, with deals like that struck with the UK Government a proving ground for the value of its products.

“The number of people using our products in the UK has increased fourfold in the past year,” said Sal Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

“It’s exciting to see them using AI to save time, increase productivity, and get more done. Civil servants are using ChatGPT to improve public services and established firms are reimagining operations. We’re proud to continue supporting the UK and the Government’s AI plan.”