Activists are set to take to British streets on Friday for two days of protests against the expansion of data centres to serve booming demand for artificial intelligence, and the impact of the facilities on communities and the environment, reported Reuters.
The protests, coordinated by environmental charity Global Action Plan, are part of a growing international backlash against the power- and water-hungry sites needed to meet surging demand for AI computing power.
“Big Tech’s unchecked construction of hyperscale AI data centres is putting the UK’s climate targets at risk,” said Oliver Hayes, Head of Campaigns at Global Action Plan, in a statement.
Among the biggest is set to be the ‘March Against The Machines’ event starting outside the offices of OpenAI on Saturday at midday.
While there is no formal definition of what a data centre is in Britain or how many there are, a techUK report, opens new tab from November 2024 put the number at around 450.
The British energy regulator said 140, opens new tab data centres had signalled they wanted to plug into the grid and could require 50 gigawatts of power. By comparison, it said peak British electricity demand on February 11 was 45 GW.
