AI firms say UK has a year to head off datacentre protests before construction is threatened

AI firms say UK has a year to head off datacentre protests before construction is threatened Exclusive: Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco taskforce urges ministers to offer areas greater benefits from tech infrastructure amid fears of US-style opposition

AI companies have told ministers they have 12 months to head off public opposition to datacentres in the UK or risk US-style protests that could threaten their construction.

Successive dry summers and rising energy bills are increasing public scrutiny of plans for the huge computer warehouses that are used to train and run AI models, says a submission to the Labour government from a group including the AI infrastructure companies Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco.

Amid increasing anti-datacentre activism in the US and Europe, they are calling on ministers to create a “compact” that would show how communities can benefit from hosting datacentres, including allowing councils that host them to retain more tax revenues.

The move by the Sovereign AI Leadership (SAIL) taskforce reflects rising concern among tech companies that arguments that have blocked datacentre developments in parts of the US are taking hold in Britain. Microsoft has promised to invest $30bn (£22bn) in UK AI infrastructure.

Microsoft has built a datacentre in Acton, London and another is under construction in Newport, but wants to build several more facilities and is engaging with local and national leaders, including the prime minister, Andy Burnham, over the balance between the potential benefit of AI to the economy and public opposition to datacentres.

The SAIL group said: “In the United States, organised local opposition has stopped fully permitted datacentre projects, and moratoriums have been announced even in states that are otherwise pro-growth.

“Reporting from those places shows that AI itself is only a surface-level concern; distrust of corporate and government promises, fear of stranded assets and electricity costs run deeper. The same arguments have begun to appear here.”

The taskforce is calling for the government to create a clear framework for councils and mayors to follow that will set out recommended terms for local benefit, including an indicative contribution – likely to be financial or in terms of facilities – scaled to a site’s size.

Opposition to datacentre construction is being fuelled by widening public concern about the safety of AI systems, after a summer in which some of the largest companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google appeared to lose control of some of their most cutting-edge AIs. Some protesters have begun resorting to direct action and the membership of anti-AI campaign groups has been growing rapidly.