LONDON — Tech giants must be allowed to burn more fossil fuels if the U.K. is to become a global AI leader, British ministers were told this summer.
The warning was raised at a meeting in late June between Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and executives from leading U.S. tech firms.
The suggestion — that on-site gas fuel cells could provide an “interim measure” to get around lengthy waits for a connection to the electricity grid — exposes the tensions the U.K. faces as it tries to be both a climate leader and an “AI maker.”
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Achieving the latter relies on rapidly increasing the number of energy-intensive data centers for AI on British soil.
