What’s up with… Stargate UK, Russian submarines, the FCC

• OpenAI pauses UK project Stargate 
• UK accuses Russia of subsea cable surveillance
• FCC mulls Chinese telco ban

In today’s industry news roundup: OpenAI pauses its UK AI investment plans citing high energy costs; UK defence secretary John Healey accuses Russia of surveying subsea cable systems in the Atlantic; the FCC is planning to vote on a proposal to ban Chinese telcos from US datacentres; and much more!

OpenAI has shelved plans for a multibillion-pound investment into UK AI and datacentre infrastructure, citing concerns about the cost of energy in the country. Stargate UK – announced last year as part of a £31bn package of US tech investment in the UK – included plans to build a large datacentre in the north-east of England and make thousands of GPUs available for AI projects, in partnership with Nvidia and Nscale, but an OpenAI spokesperson said the project has been paused until the firm has “the right conditions” to “enable long-term infrastructure investment”. It is a huge blow for the Labour government’s efforts to position AI as an engine of UK growth, though OpenAI’s commitments under Stargate were always vague. However, in a political twist, it is worth noting that the ChatGPT-owner recently hired former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne to head up the international expansion of Stargate.

Speaking of UK politics, defence secretary John Healey has accused Russian submarines of trying to survey undersea infrastructure in the North Atlantic, including subsea cable systems. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Healey said a British warship and aircraft had tracked and monitored Russian submarines conducting a “covert” operation over cables and pipelines – a claim denied by the Russian embassy in London, according to Russian state media. Around 60 subsea cable systems connect the UK, carrying more than 90% of the country’s everyday internet traffic – much of it owned or operated by telecom companies. The Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered vessel retreated home, Healey added, while the UK continues to monitor two Gugi-class submarines operating around the UK.

More international tensions in the telecoms space, as the US Federal Communications Commission is reportedly considering a crackdown on Chinese telecom companies operating and interconnecting with US-based networks, Reuters reports. The regulator said it could introduce new rules that prohibit the likes of China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from running datacentres in the US, while banning US telcos from interconnecting with companies on its so-called “covered list”, which identifies firms that allegedly pose national security concerns to the government. It is planning an initial vote on the ban at its 30 April meeting, according to an agenda released today. If approved, it could have far-reaching consequences for wholesale operators who manage network links with China, as well as datacentre providers and internet exchanges that house Chinese telcos’ points of presence.

SoftBank has followed its Japanese rivals by launching direct-to-device satellite services in partnership with Starlink (announced here in Japanese). The SoftBank Starlink Direct service went live today (Friday) for customers on its main network and its Y!Mobile and Linemo brands, leveraging the telco’s partnership with SpaceX. The announcement comes a week after NTT Docomo launched its own D2D service for enterprises – due to go live on 27 April – which at the time prompted SoftBank to make a short announcement saying it would launch its service “shortly”. Both are playing catch up with domestic rival KDDI, however, which began its own collaboration with Starlink in 2023 and launched a national D2D service in April 2025.

Telefónica Spain has launched an end-to-end drone service offering remote piloting, 5G connectivity, drone-in-a-box installation and video analytics to enterprises and public sector organisations across Spain. The drones can be controlled remotely from the operator’s National Supervision and Operations Centre, located in Aracava, Madrid, according to this announcement (in Spanish). The drones leverage 5G, which makes “long-distance flights, continuous drone control and real-time video transmission” possible, claimed Telefónica, while taking advantage of network slicing and Open Gateway APIs.

– The staff, TelecomTV