UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ruled out a national moratorium on data centers.
Speaking in the UK parliament on Wednesday, Burnham said the government’s AI Growth Zone scheme would help ensure communities hosting new data centers would feel the economic benefits of developments.
Responding to a question from Labour MP Ian Lavery, who said three “vast” AI data centers are currently under construction in his constituency, Blyth and Ashington in north-east England, Burnham said: “At this point, I won’t go as far as a moratorium.”
Andy Burnham – Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street on Flickr
He added that data centers “can be the magnet that clusters in other investment over time,” and said AI Growth Zones would help boost tax revenues for communities with data centers. Burnham plans to devolve more power to local mayors, including allowing them to spend a greater proportion of tax raised in their areas on local projects.
