Police Scotland has issued a stark public warning that proposed AI datacentres will need 'robust security measures' to prevent attacks by protesters, cautioning that 'a great deal of public opposition is likely' to a planned facility near Edinburgh.
The alert signals how AI infrastructure has become contested political terrain before ground is even broken. What was once technocratic planning—siting power-hungry server farms—has escalated into a security concern requiring law enforcement to anticipate direct confrontation.
The warning fits a broader international pattern of mounting opposition to AI infrastructure worldwide, including in the United States, where such projects have become a major political rallying point as communities question the impacts of large-scale AI buildout.