OpenAI's Osborne criticises UK local opposition to datacentres

single source· 1 articles · confidence: low · first seen 2026-09-22 11:46 UTC

What this means for you

Nothing to act on yet: this is a statement of position, not a policy change, and no planning rules, sites or timelines were announced. If you are siting UK datacentre capacity, local objection is now the constraint OpenAI is publicly naming.

George Osborne, the former UK chancellor who is now OpenAI's head of AI for countries, said opposition to datacentres is holding Britain back, in comments reported by the Guardian on 22 September. He said the UK needs the facilities to keep "sovereignty" over AI technology. His OpenAI role includes representing the company to governments and helping enable datacentre construction. The remarks respond to protests across the country against large datacentres, which the Guardian describes as heavy users of water and electricity. The report names no sites, figures or construction dates, and rests on a single outlet's account.

Key facts

  • ·George Osborne is OpenAI's head of AI for countries, a role that includes representing the company to governments and enabling datacentre construction. source
  • ·Osborne said opposition to datacentres is holding Britain back. source
  • ·He said the UK needs datacentres to maintain "sovereignty" over AI technology. source
  • ·The comments were a reaction to protests across the UK about large datacentres. source
  • ·The Guardian describes the datacentres as heavy users of water and energy. source
  • ·The report was published on 22 September 2026. source

What the sources say

  • The Guardian AI — Reports Osborne's criticism of local opposition from his OpenAI role, framing it around UK AI sovereignty.

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire