🌍🤖💤Picture this: a shiny £31bn “Tech Prosperity Deal” is being inked between the UK Government and US tech giants like Google and Microsoft, just in time for Donald Trump’s second state visit. Flashbulbs, handshakes, smiles… Meanwhile, a little advisory group set up to check if these AI mega-centres are frying the planet hasn’t even managed to book their first meeting. Not a Zoom call, not a Teams invite—nothing.
🤯 Data Centres, Coal Mines with Wi-Fi
Here’s the dirty little secret: AI isn’t powered by fairy dust and inspirational TED Talks—it’s powered by electricity. A staggering amount of it. Training those “smart” models eats up more energy than some small countries use in a year, and every new data centre expansion is basically another coal-fired monument to human hubris, only with better branding.
And yet, ministers—supposedly the guardians of our national interest—are acting like kids on Christmas morning, unwrapping corporate presents while ignoring the fact the batteries are leaking acid all over the carpet. The advisory group, the one meant to wave a green flag when things go toxic? Too busy sipping tea and debating biscuits, apparently.
The government loves to call this “tech prosperity,” but let’s be honest—it’s prosperity for who? Big Tech rakes in the cash, politicians get photo ops, and the rest of us get warmer summers, higher bills, and the privilege of asking Alexa why the Thames has turned into soup.
🔥 Challenges 🔥
Why are ministers so allergic to even the basic consideration of the climate cost? Why are we cheering on billionaires wiring the UK into an AI gridlock without asking how many forests and power plants that will consume? Shouldn’t someone have at least opened the bloody Outlook calendar before signing £31bn worth of corporate handshakes?
👇 Drop your comments on the blog (not just Facebook). Is this “Tech Prosperity” or “Tech Pyromania”? 🔋🔥
The sharpest takes will be featured in the magazine. 📝⚡
Chameleon Magazine 
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