OpenAI’s George Osborne says datacentre nimbys holding back Britain

Protests have sprung up across the UK in opposition to the construction of datacentres, including outside the Scottish parliament. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Datacentre nimbys are holding Britain back, George Osborne has said in reaction to nationwide protests about the giant water- and energy-guzzling structures.

The former Tory chancellor is now the head of AI for countries at OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. His job is to represent the company to governments around the world and he also has a role in enabling the building of datacentres and other infrastructure.