What are Britain’s AI growth zones and are the plans feasible or ‘complete bunk’?
TL;DR
Britain has announced five AI growth zones where government support is meant to accelerate datacentres of at least 500 MW, combining AI infrastructure, regional jobs and industrial policy. The Guardian says the Lanarkshire project by DataVita and CoreWeave does not match its public promise: the £8.2bn site was sold as running on on-site renewables by 2030, but is now expected to need the grid.
Nauti's Take
This is not a minor planning glitch; it is the pattern of the AI buildout: first the giant narrative, then the hunt for grid access, land, permits and real jobs. Britain does need AI infrastructure, but not on glossy assumptions that collapse at the first power question.
The useful test is simple: anyone promising 500 MW must show where that power comes from, when it is available and who gets pushed back in the queue.
Briefingshow
The investigation hits the hard constraint behind the AI boom: datacentres are not abstract cloud capacity, but power, grid and land projects. If governments announce 500 MW campuses without proving energy supply, connection timelines and local impacts, AI industrial policy turns into PR with real costs for communities, households and competing infrastructure.
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