UK government does not know what datacentres are being used for, FoI request shows
A freedom of information request revealed that the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology did not know who was using the country's largest data centres or what they were being used for. The department, which has since been dissolved, said it simply did not hold that information.
Why this matters: The UK government is approving and promoting a data centre buildout it cannot actually see inside. That matters because data centres consume enormous amounts of energy and water, and those costs land on local communities and the climate. It also matters because 'we don't know' is not a neutral answer. It means no one is checking what is being built, for whom, or at what public cost. You cannot govern infrastructure you have not bothered to track.
Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy
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