There's a steady stream of stories from the US about how the uncontrolled data centre boom has caused household energy prices to rocket. Yet the UK govt persists with its determination to unleash a similar, unnecessary boom here. eu.cincinnati.com/story/money/...

"These women are living in terror. They know that no ambulance will come to the red zone to pick them up so they can deliver safely. There’s no way for them to reach the hospital that still performs C-sections". msf.org.uk/article/what...

"The insidious effect of workslop is that it shifts the burden of the work downstream, requiring the receiver to interpret, correct, or redo the work" hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...

Who are ministers going to back - the Trump-Big Tech axis, or the British public? www.context.news/ai/opinion/u...

Thousands marched in London to protest President Donald Trump’s second state visit. Among them were many environmental activists unhappy with Britain’s new AI deal with the US. www.wired.com/story/climat...

Forcing gas-powered data centres on the UK would of course be good news for the world's biggest exporter of fossil gas, which entirely coincidentally is also the US.

Important context for why Jensen Huang is telling us we have to build vast numbers of gas-powered data centres in the UK

“We’re a kind of vassal state technologically, we really are." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Palantir apparently unaffected by the downfall of Peter Mandelson, who was one of their biggest fans in the UK Govt.

Jensen Huang says we have to build more fossil gas power plants in the middle of a climate crisis so he can keep selling chips. The UK Govt shouldn't be entertaining this for a second.

US Big Tech's given up even pretending their vast, superfluous UK data centres will be 'sustainable' - Huang wants more gas plants built to power them www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

[email protected] on the UK’s strategy on developing new data centres: “It’s little surprise to hear that the Trump-Big Tech axis is dead set on covering the UK in hyperscale data centres...Meanwhile, the UK will foot the bill for the colossal amounts of power the giants need"

Microsoft CEO claimed "investing in data centres was 'effectively' also investing in modernising the power grid but did not say that money would be shared directly with the UK's power supplier" In short: he will pile more demand onto the grid but won't pay for it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A completely made up number here from the Microsoft CEO, and an interview in which he also concedes that "all tech things are about booms and busts and bubbles" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Google's global water use: 2023: 24 billion litres 2024: 31 billion litres

There are a few questions it might have been good for people to ask Google about its environmental claims on data centres: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Google are keen to talk about data centre investment today. But funnily enough refused to comment on this one: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Good piece on the ropey report rushed out by lobby group TechUK this summer to try to head off data centre water usage fears: www.computerweekly.com/news/3666307...

Research from @foxglovelegal.bsky.social shows that Google's new data centre will cause half a million tonnes of carbon emissions. And this is just one of many the Trump - Big Tech axis hopes to roll out across the UK: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Trump and his Big Tech allies want to roll out vast data centres across the UK, at huge cost to our climate, water and energy supplies. The UK Govt is backing them, without a thought for the environment - help us take action: www.crowdjustice.com/case/datacen... #Trump #StateVisit

I've written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, urging them to join me in condemning Elon Musk's dangerous remarks inciting violence yesterday. As leaders, we must stand together and make clear Musk will face serious consequences for these actions.

A tech deal drawn up by Mandelson and Vance will "standardise AI regulation to make it easier for firms in the UK and US to co-operate" - which sounds ominous given the anti-regulation frenzy of Trump & his Big Tech allies: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Blackstone's CEO is apparently not content with the damage his firm's data centres are doing to the water environment www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Striking how quickly they can do this now, given all the foot-dragging over divestment after he became ambassador

Good news for the Tony Blair Institute: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Damn, if only someone had predicted this. www.ft.com/content/9a8a...

I particularly liked this. "To create a true drug discovery engine, he believes we need half a dozen AlphaFold-level breakthroughs." I mean, we *could* alternatively just do more science - but hell no, let's assume we just need to throw more AI at it.

Great to see that government WILL ban moorland burning on peat deeper than 30cm, and over a much greater area than previously Big win for communities who've suffered the smoke + floods stemming from this Victorian practice Only losers are ~150 wealthy grouse moor owners www.gov.uk/government/n...

How much longer can the UK Govt keep claiming Big Tech AI is a magical solution to reducing costs, while also getting results like this in their evaluations? www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

Starmer: Govt must use AI to reduce size of the civil service. Govt trial of Microsoft's Copilot: "We did not find robust evidence to suggest...improved productivity" www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

This doubly telling because 1) being totally batshit on the internet as a British MP can now give you a 50% uplift on an MP's salary! bit of a worrying incentive! 2) being one of the most shared politicians on X only earns you £40k, meaning most of the blue ticks are debasing themselves for pennies

Interesting piece on Farage's support for Big Tech's assault on UK & EU laws.

"Google’s net-zero pledge has quietly been scrubbed" - good spot by the @nationalobserver.com www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/04/i...

Data centres use enormous volumes of water and electricity yet the UK's environmental watchdogs are asleep at the wheel. If you're worried about the Govt pushing these through without a thought for climate emissions & water demand, support our case here: www.crowdjustice.com/case/datacen...

The Environment Agency is handing out licenses to data centres to take water from the environment - but has no idea how many overall: observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Yep, the UK Govt should definitely keep handing contracts to these people to run our entire digital infrastructure, definitely no risks there. www.ft.com/content/3648...

Going for 'no' here

If you don't want Palantir in the UK's public services, why not write to the Health Secretary over their role in the NHS: www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/pl...

Dept Council leader says: “We are reviewing the Palantir contract … and I personally agree with the sentiments regarding the divestment of all funds which are being used in the genocide all across the world, particularly at the moment in Gaza.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

“You don’t find someone guilty of robbing a bank and then sentence him to writing a thank you note for the loot.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/the-...

Farage has gone to the US to advocate for Mark Zuckerberg's interests - attacking the same EU / UK laws as the Meta CEO. Is he after Nick Clegg's old job? judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...

Where will the electricity for increasing data centre demand come from? Mostly fossil fuels, says Goldman Sachs: "natural gas generators will supply 60%, adding between 215 and 220 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 – equivalent to an extra 0.6 percent of global energy emissions."

Despite the rise of renewables, a better proxy of emissions increase is electricity use Note: Amazon does not reveal comparable figures of power use.

Palantir seem to be busy in the Midlands - they're already working with Bedfordshire and Leicestershire Police - and now this with Coventry council:

Big Tech has also been using the Govt's AI Energy Council - supposedly aimed at 'sustainability' - to push for gas-powered data centres. This is from the minutes for June's meeting:

More UK public sector contracts - including children's services - for Palantir, a firm best known for supporting Trump's deportation squads and the IDF in Gaza. What could possibly go wrong. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This was an interesting piece - there's a strange (but noisy) minority of people in England who seem to want to turn it into a version of 00s NI - right down to painting the kerbstones (!) observer.co.uk/news/columni...

"Fascists are attempting to stir up hatred and division in our communities, by blaming the most vulnerable people in society for poor social conditions" theferret.scot/far-r...

A reminder that data centre developers want to build new fossil gas plants to power them - resulting in huge additional climate emissions - despite greenwashing around 'sustainability.'