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UK government met 137 businesses on AI datacentres, no environmental groups

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Source: The Guardian

Spotlight on Corruption found that UK ministers, permanent secretaries and directors general met 137 businesses between July 2024 and June 2026 while developing AI growth zones policy. They met no environmental organisations and only two community groups. The investigation also found that 38 ministers, senior civil servants and special advisers were hired into AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, between July 2024 and September 2026. Nine of them came from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Why it matters

Environmental groups were not met and the two community groups were seen days before launch, so affected communities had no meaningful input into a policy covering datacentres across five regions, while Canada, Germany and Australia consulted far more widely.

When
27 Oct 2026
ID
WTA-N-2026-0444
Who
Spotlight on Corruption, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK government, OpenAI, Anthropic; Keir Starmer, Jade Leung, Kamila Kingstone, Chi Onwurah

Summary by wheresthe.ai, from The Guardian. Checked against the source on 27 Oct 2026.

Read the original at The Guardian

Source copy: download the page as saved on 27 Oct 2026 (PDF). Also held by the Internet Archive.

Earlier in this Storyline: What led hereUK adopts all 50 AI Opportunities Action Plan recommendations; Culham first Growth Zone

Cite this story

WTA-N-2026-0444: “UK government met 137 businesses on AI datacentres, no environmental groups.” wheresthe.ai, 27 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/gb-uk-government-met-137-businesses-on-ai-datacentres-no-env-2026-10/ (source: The Guardian).

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