Rubbish Check
Guardian Business · 18 October 2026
source“Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates the Guardian's claim that "Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns" a 2/10 because the headline matches the underlying fact almost exactly, with the only omission being the project's already-shaky backstory.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. This is about as clean as a headline gets: Microsoft did terminate its agreement, the stated reason is power supply, and the location is Essex. The only thing missing is context that would make the story look worse for Nscale, not better, so there's no favourable spin at play here.
What actually happened
Microsoft terminated its agreement to be the anchor tenant for Nscale's planned Loughton, Essex datacentre, which had been heralded by ministers as the country's largest AI datacentre when it was announced in 2025. The withdrawal follows news a month earlier that power supply problems meant the project would face a lengthy wait before coming online, and Nscale has lost its only publicly announced customer for the Essex datacentre as a result.
Key facts
- The Loughton development was planned to open next year and was described by Keir Starmer's government as the "largest UK sovereign AI datacentre" when announced in 2025.
- National grid officials reportedly told Nscale they did not expect a power supply for the data centre until the 2030s, per Reuters' corroboration of the Telegraph's original report.
- Microsoft was one of Nscale's largest planned customers and expected to have been the anchor tenant before pulling out.
- Nscale is understood to remain positioned as Britain's "sovereign" datacentre provider, but the loss of an anchor tenant for Loughton could undermine its ambition to float on Wall Street this year with a potential valuation of $35bn.
- An Nscale spokesperson said the company remains committed to both the Loughton project and the UK, and is exploring alternative power sources and other UK expansion sites.
What to watch for
Watch whether Nscale lands a replacement anchor tenant before its planned IPO, and whether the "London-wide grid issue" the company cites gets independent confirmation from National Grid itself. Also worth tracking: the story sits atop an earlier Guardian scoop that the Loughton site was still an operational scaffolding yard as of March, context the headline doesn't carry but which colours how surprising this setback really is.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
