A mass demonstration took place in Edinburgh against the construction of large artificial intelligence data centres. Participants, armed with placards and some dressed in costumes, gathered at the top of the Royal Mile and marched towards the Scottish Parliament. According to STV News, around 6,000 people took part in the action. Activists from local groups including Cockenzie, Dunbar, Larbert, Ravenscraig, North Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, and Borders joined forces by travelling to the capital. Many of the marchers stated they wanted a “seat at the table” when formulating data centre approval rules and felt their concerns remained “unheard”. Slogans included “We cannae drink data” and “AI? Aye Right”.
Specific Communities Against Specific Projects
A number of participants came to voice their opposition to planned data centre developments in specific communities—including Cockenzie (East Lothian) and Larbert (Falkirk). Campaigner Kim Keynes from the «Say No To Chapelcross AI Data Centre» movement said the local community was concerned about noise, road closures, and access issues during construction, as well as operational noise levels once the facility is up and running. She described the current site as «green fields with sheep and cows», warning that the project would turn it into an «environmental monstrosity» with air and light pollution. Similar demands were raised regarding the Larbert project, with banners reading «Say No to Larbert AI Data Centre» and «Stop selling Scotland to Big Tech».
Government Position: «The Whisky Bonds of the AI Sector»
The Scottish Government confirmed it will publish new planning guidance on data centres by the end of the year and is developing a strategy to maximise the «public benefit» from facilities located in Scotland. Innovation Minister Alyn Smith previously described data centres as «the whisky bonds of the AI sector» and stated that part of the debate around the topic has been «wild», comparing the discussion to an absence of a planning system and noting that the example of a «very bad data centre in the Utah desert» does not translate to Scottish reality. Planning authorities are now required to notify ministers of new data centre applications, and the new planning direction mandates an Environmental Impact Assessment for all new facilities with a capacity exceeding 50 megawatts.
Scale: From 12MW to 1000MW
At the centre of the Scottish debate is the scale and impact of the sites themselves. Currently, Scotland’s largest data centre is considered to be the DataVita facility in Airdrie (North Lanarkshire) with a capacity of 12MW. If the planned project in Chapelcross (Dumfries and Galloway) goes ahead, its capacity will reach 1000MW, making it one of the largest data centres in the world. The Scottish Green Party and campaigning groups have called for a moratorium on large data centres, arguing they could undermine climate targets and place additional pressure on renewable energy sources. Friends of the Earth campaigner Kim Pratt stated that the people of Scotland must have the final say on data centre developments, as such «energy-hungry» projects will drive up energy bills and climate impacts, while the government has only evaluated these consequences for a few months despite the unknown long-term impact of new developments.
European Context and the AI Debate
The rally took place against the backdrop of a wider discussion on the environmental impact of data centres and formed part of a wave of protests across Europe. According to STV News, the protest coincided with the Global Day of Action surrounding the UN COP31 climate talks in Antalya, Turkey. Parallel to this, a broader debate about artificial intelligence is taking place in society: some experts consider AI to be the most transformational technology ever created, while others warn that at current development rates, there is a risk they describe as a threat to humanity. For Scotland, however, the central issue remains the scale and local impact of specific sites, rather than abstract scenarios of AI's future.
