Amid the intensifying AI geopolitical competition, OpenAI is accelerating its global strategic layout. The company recently announced the appointment of George Osborne, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, as the head of "OpenAI for Countries," overseeing the international expansion of its $500 billion "Starlink-scale infrastructure" initiative (note: here "Starlink-scale infrastructure" refers to a large-scale AI infrastructure plan, not SpaceX's Starlink).
Notably, this personnel appointment follows Anthropic's hiring of former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an advisor in October this year, highlighting that AI giants are increasingly incorporating political connections and national relationships into their core competitive dimensions.
The "OpenAI for Countries" project was officially launched in May this year, aiming to help sovereign nations build autonomous and controllable AI infrastructure and capabilities, known as "sovereign AI." Although the project originated from the U.S.-based "Starlink-scale data center construction plan," its international version focuses more on collaboration with governments worldwide, providing technology, computing power, and governance frameworks to support localized AI development.
It is reported that OpenAI has already reached formal cooperation agreements with the UK and the UAE, and is conducting in-depth discussions with over 50 countries around the world. Osborne, with his deep influence in the UK's political and economic elite, international financial network, and long-term attention to technology policy, is seen as an ideal candidate to drive such high-sensitivity government collaborations.
These moves indicate that the competition in large model development has evolved from purely technical and product-based rivalry into a multidimensional contest involving geopolitics, national sovereignty, and infrastructure sovereignty. When AI becomes a national strategic asset, OpenAI and Anthropic's efforts to recruit former officials are not only about commercial expansion but also about securing a "geopolitical seat" for the future global AI order.
