OpenAI has signed a strategic partnership with the UK government, covering broad promises on AI development and infrastructure promises.

The two parties said that they would work together on security, roll out AI tools, and "explore investing" in data centers.

The memorandum is voluntary and not legally binding.

OpenAI plans to increase the size of its London office and will work with the government on using AI for justice, defense, and security. On the latter point, OpenAI will share more technical information with the UK AI Security Institute to help its understanding of generative AI.

The company's technology is already used in ‘Humphrey,' Whitehall’s AI assistant, named after a character from Yes, Prime Minister known for obfuscation and manipulation.

In the new partnership, concrete promises are lacking - the government's release says 'explore' six times - and includes the statement "OpenAI could look to invest in and support AI Growth Zones."

The zones are an effort by the UK government to ease planning permission and power connections for set areas in the hope of attracting large AI data centers. However, in its non-US Stargate push, OpenAI said that it is looking for governments willing to invest in the projects themselves, something the UK government has yet to do.

Last week, the UK government said that the country needs to deploy "at least" 6GW of AI-capable data center capacity by 2030 to remain competitive.

The government said that it had received more than 200 bids from across the country for zones.