No large scale data centres will be approved in Scotland until the Holyrood government has published national planning guidance.
However, there was frustration among environmental campaigners that the vote in parliament fell short of an outright ban.
MSPs backed a Labour amendment to pause planning and consent of new applications for up to a year as ministers came under pressure to formulate a clearly defined policy.
Opposition to so-called hyperscale data centres has grown amid concern over noise, size and their impact on water and electricity supplies.
The vote will concern those who believe it will damage the economy by holding back the expansion of a key new industry that is at the core of the digital revolution.
Scottish Labour Economy spokesperson Daniel Johnson said: “Scotland has huge strengths in data science and energy but we need a real plan to ensure we benefit from new developments.
“Data centres an increasingly important part of our national infrastructure and a potential source of jobs, but construction cannot happen at the expense of our communities, environment or energy needs.”
He added: “The SNP must put in place the protections needed and ensure that any data centres work for communities, create good jobs, and deliver for Scotland.”
Green’s economy spokesman Patrick Harvie, who led the debate in parliament, called for an “unambiguous pause on all data centre applications over 50MW until a robust national strategy is in place, alongside clear guidance for local councils on how these developments should be assessed.”
He said it was “bitterly disappointing” that the SNP, Labour and Liberal Democrats voted to block Green proposals for a “simple, straightforward moratorium on hyperscale data centres in Scotland”.
The Minister responsible for planning, Hannah Mary Goodlad, told parliament: “We do not agree that there should be a moratorium.
“That is not necessary, it’s not appropriate, and it would send the wrong message to anyone looking to invest in Scotland.”
Kim Pratt, senior circular economy campaigner with Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “Politicians have chosen to support data centre plans, fuelled by the greed of big tech, rather than to protect the people of Scotland.”
The debate came after the government announced that large-scale datacentres would face mandatory environmental impact assessments. This followed a direction last month requiring planning authorities to notify Scottish Ministers of all new data centre applications within seven days of validation. More than 20 data centres are in various stages of development.
Ahead of the Holyrood debate, the boss of one data centre sought to bring an end to the dispute by inviting critics to tour his facility in North Lanarkshire.
Danny Quinn, head of DataVita, extended the welcome to Greens co-leader Ross Greer and Dr Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS).
“The importance of the decisions we make about AI for Scotland’s future economy cannot be overstated,” he said. “We need to move beyond a debate in which one side has to be entirely right and the other entirely wrong.”
There have been over 500 bans or restrictions on data centre developments in the US and countries such as the Netherlands and Malaysia have brought in restrictions.
On Thursday, AI leaders will gather at Dumfries House, Ayrshire, for a summit with King Charles on the future of AI technology, amid warnings that the speed of its development threatens the survival of humanity.
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