The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to a surge in land development across Britain, with potential sites being targeted for start-of-the-art AI data centers. Developers, industrial sites, speculative investors, property developers, and even farmers are investing in these sites to capitalise on the billions of dollars tech giants plan to spend on AI data centres. According to construction analytics group Barbour ABI, plans for 119 data centers have been submitted, on sites including a disused car plant, an old paint factory, a former Travelodge hotel and a retail centre near Heathrow Airport. The surge in data center applications has caused a significant increase in land valuations and delays in grid connections. However, many sites with data center ambitions lack access to power, leading to an increase in applications for grid connections and wait times for a connection out to 12 to 15 years. The National Energy System Operator has identified 140 data centers in the main queue, representing about 50 GW of capacity.