OpenAI's George Osborne Blames Datacentre Opposition for Holding Britain Back

George Osborne, OpenAI's head of AI for countries, has blamed datacentre opposition for holding Britain back, following protests across the UK against the large water- and energy-intensive structures.

Speaking at the Big Brue festival in Somerset, the former chancellor said building a datacentre in Britain is extremely difficult, comparing it to his time in politics trying to win support for new roads, railway lines and airport runways. He warned the UK would lose sovereignty over tech to the US if it fails to allow datacentres to be built, noting they will otherwise be constructed in Ohio, Georgia and Michigan.

Protests have taken place in central London, Devon and outside Holyrood in Edinburgh, with concerns raised about landscape damage, job creation, affordable housing, and vast water and energy use. The government has classified AI datacentres as critical national infrastructure to speed up construction, while the Green party in England has called for a moratorium.

Osborne dismissed the opposition as nimbyism, pointing to a building boom in the US despite growing political resistance. Verity Harding of Cambridge University's Bennett School for Public Policy said the backlash reflects wider unease with the tech industry, not datacentres themselves.

The heads of OpenAI and Anthropic are set to meet world leaders at the UN general assembly in New York this week. Osborne said corporate leaders sitting down with presidents and prime ministers on the UN security council should be seen as reassuring rather than alarming.

Source: The Guardian