Plea for data centre moratorium sends ‘wrong message’ to investors, MSPs told
Sandy Begbie, of Scottish Financial Enterprise, argued Scotland needs a ‘more proportionate response’ to such facilities.
Calls for a moratorium on new data centres “send very much the wrong message” and could impact investment in Scotland’s AI sector, MSPs have been told.
Holyrood’s Economy Committee heard AI could add more than £23 billion a year to Scotland’s GDP by 2035.
But Scottish Financial Enterprise chief executive Sandy Begbie said the “current tone” of the debate on data centres – which has seen the Scottish Greens and campaigners call for a moratorium on such developments – is “proving to be quite negative with investors”.
He added: “Words like moratorium send very much the wrong message to investors about the opportunity that exists.”
Mr Begbie cited research by Morgan Stanley which suggested that globally, some 3 trillion US dollars (£2.2 trillion) could be invested in AI infrastructure by 2028.
Asking how Scotland could “grab its fair share of that”, he said: “AI will be part of the future, data centres is very much part of that.
“We will need them, we will need them for public sector services together with attracting additional investment.
“It’s about how we do them, not whether or if we do them.