A software leader says there is no need for Britain to build data centres across the country in order to compete in the AI market.
Steve Hare, chief executive of payroll company Sage, says Britain should instead focus on the applications that serve customers.
“I don’t really see why we need data centres all over the UK,” he said. “They are just big sheds full of computers They can be based anywhere. If you listen to Elon Musk, he says they can be based in space.
“That [the data centre] in itself is not the intelligence. It’s the place where it lives. Are we really going to create UK sovereign security?
“We would have to align ourselves with the big nations. The UK does not have the capability to be a sovereign data AI nation. I don’t think that is achievable.”
His comments come as the UK and Scottish government’s have created AI strategies which encourage investment in data centres.
Amid growing controversy across the country over their physical impact and demands on the grid and water supplies, Mr Hare’s comments will encourage those campaigning to slow down or even halt development.
There are 24 applications at various stages in Scotland alone and the Scottish government has ordered a review.
In a radio interview, Mr Hare added: “You need to focus on the things we are good at and are achievable. We still have the capability to be one of the world’s leaders in the application of AI but I don’t think having a feelgood factor that we have data centres all over the place necessarily helps that.”
He says Britain “absolutely needs” the big players such as Anthropic and OpenAI to have a footprint in the UK.
“But whether they build a data centre here in the UK or somewhere else – that’s just where it’s housed, it’s just a bunch of computers with chips. The thing that’s really important is the model, it’s the intelligence and then the application layer on top of that.
“We should be focused on what we’re good at, which is harnessing all of this intelligence. You don’t have to compete with Anthropic to be successful.
“You have to take the intelligence that’s available and then create applications for the customer that you understand, and I think the UK is world class at that. We should be ambitious in the applications, but I don’t subscribe to those saying we have to be full stack.”
He said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is not trying to be full stack but is seeing the intelligence layer starting to commoditise with models a tenth of the price of just a few months ago
“Jensen is talking a lot about the biggest opportunity is for those in the application layer. They will be able to leverage off the infrastructure and do amazing things for their customers.
“I am hugely ambitious for the UK, but you don’t have to be ambitious for every single part of the stack. You have to be focused on what you are good at, and I think we are good at applications.”
The UK government says failing to build Britain’s domestic data capacity would risk sending investment abroad, leaving Britain dependent on other countries to process sensitive health and defence data.
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