North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has said the region will put the interests of local people before those of big tech firms amid growing concern about the number of data centres planned for the region.
There was much fanfare when the North East was designated as an AI growth zone by the Government, but the strength of feeling among locals has led Northumberland MP Ian Lavery to call for a pause on further data centre development.
Data centre plans and concerns
US firm QTS is in the process of building a vast data centre campus at Cambois, while planning applications for two more have been submitted nearby. Data centres use significant amounts of resources, particularly energy and water.
The growth zone designation came with a pledge of 5,000 new jobs and £30 billion of investment. At Tuesday's meeting of the mayoral authority's cabinet, members were asked to agree a £5 million public investment in those plans, to underwrite a promised Government grant which has not yet been delivered.
That funding, which the mayoral authority plans to reclaim from the Government retrospectively, will be used to deliver projects including entry-level AI skills training for primary school pupils.
Mayor's response
Ms McGuinness said she was aware of concerns, but that the region had the opportunity to reap the benefits of AI going forward.
She said: "This is about making sure the benefits of AI are felt by people across the region. This can't just be about big tech - it's got to be about people's day-to-day lives and how we support them.
"I'm not blind to the concerns people have about AI - about job loses, creativity - I think we should be regulating this far more closely, but we have to take the benefits. I think the idea of an AI growth zone does make people nervous about the big infrastructure and the change in the nature of work."
"This has to be about job creation and us being the region that creates technology, not just adopts it. We have those skills here, we have got a real strong digital heartland."
Council leaders' warnings
Last week, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson warned against potential overdevelopment in the county with two applications currently being considered by the council alongside the QTS site already under construction. That warning came after Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery urged the Prime Minister to issue a moratorium on further data centre construction until legislation could catch up.
Speaking at Tuesday's meeting, Coun Sanderson said: "There are significant advantages and I welcome the fact that the Government created an AI growth zone for us. I know they will be paying that money soon.
"There are some significant advantages - Northumberland the QTS £10 billion investment we're getting represents a fantastic opportunity. They are a set of really good people and have worked very closely with communities and engaged and worked with young people."
"One issue we have to deal with is without question overdevelopment that might take place. I know in Northumberland there are two potential applications coming up.
"I would not want to be accused of prejudging any planning, but it may be up to them to decide that there should be some sort of curb on development - I wouldn't know."
Gateshead Council leader Nick Allan added: "It goes without saying that we support the programme. It should go ahead at speed.
"My inly concern is that the benefits are not reflected only in and around the infrastructure that is being built, but across the region. What is the vision for how the programme for how the benefit will be felt across all parts of the region?"
People over infrastructure
Ms McGuinness replied: "This is about skills. Whether that's about skills to support you in your day-to-day life and that training availability from the big companies that are investing in these datacentres or whether these are about skills to get into jobs and creating jobs in the AI landscape - that's what this about, not just about datacentres and infrastructure. It has to be about how thousands of people get on as a direct result of it."
"For me, it's got to be people over infrastructure - the people of the region over big tech firms. I will unapologetically say I don't care about how big their investment is, if they're not putting people first it has got to be a no from us."
