This is Zone Fever, it is the ultimate expression of exit strategies developed over the last 70 years by right-wing economists and libertarians alike.
EUROPEANPOWELL
Once again in the absence of the Guardian’s lack of any robust critique on Keir Starmer’s nationwide rollout of AI Growth Zones back in January 2025, I will explain what is happening.
The UK is being carved up into patchworks of corporate sovereignties with governance powers handed over to the most malign corrupt corporations on the planet, while the Govt takes a secondary position.
It’s worth mentioning that while in opposition, Starmer stated that Freeports (and SEZs) were not a silver bullet for the economy, yet he quietly signed off with the Tories and is fully expanding on their free zones policy.
To date, over 200 bids on AI sites have been submitted, bidding is open indefinitely as per the UK Govt’s website.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-growth-zones/ai-growth-zones-open-for-applications
At the centre of the duopoly’s free zones rollout is a clear and total capitulation to US tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Palantir, who BTW have 24 contracts with key UK public institutions, including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the police forces, the Cabinet Office, and the DLUHC.
The divergence away from the EU’s AI regulatory orbit is particularly concerning, as evidenced in both the UK and US refusing to sign up for the regulatory proposals set out at the EU’s AI Safety Summit in April 2025, with JD Vance referring to the EU’s framework as “woke regulation” and Starmer trailing along with the US like a little lapdog.
What We Know: AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) First location confirmed: Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the UK Atomic Energy Authority, set to pilot a data centre with 100 MW capacity, potentially scaling to 500 MW. This site will test public–private models blending AI infrastructure and fusion energy research. Over 200 bids submitted from local authorities across the UK, especially in de-industrialised regions for hosting additional AIGZs. Criteria include access to robust power infrastructure (≥500 MW) and streamlined planning approvals.
Industrial Strategy Zones house all free zones under one umbrella. In June 2025, Labour published the Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs) Action Plan, proposing to merge existing economic zones, including the Tories’ 12 freeports and 74 Special Economic Zones (SEZs), into a unified, rebranded Industrial Strategy Zones framework. The plan notably folds freeports, investment zones, and SEZs under the same policy umbrella, reinforcing a layered deregulatory architecture post-Brexit.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy-zones-action-plan/industrial-strategy-zones-action-plan
Why This Matters and Why It’s Troubling There is a major critical issue here: while Starmer’s language emphasises local benefit and “national interest,” the substance draws us deeper into an international deregulation strategy, one resonant with US tech capital and private sector priorities.
Layered Deregulation AIGZs provide expedited building, planning relaxations, and energy access, functionally similar to economic zones but with an AI-specific overlay. Coupled with Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs), this creates a seamless continuum enabling rapid infrastructure build-out with limited oversight.
Strategic Alignment with US Tech Influence The push for AIGZs dovetails with the presence of major US tech firms (such as Palantir, Microsoft, Google) deeply embedded in UK institutions. This infrastructure is not neutral; it’s about being accessible to global tech capital.
Geopolitical Divergence from the EU At the same time, the UK’s regulatory divergence from the EU on AI, contrary to Europe’s more precaution-oriented approach signals a shift in alignment. It’s not merely domestic politics; it’s geopolitical posture.
Regional Economic Sacrifice Pitching these zones in de-industrialised regions frames them as “regeneration,” but without full public debate, the risk is that remote communities become concession zones for global capital where oversight is minimal, gains accrue elsewhere, and socio-economic risks are externalized.
This is Zone Fever, it is the ultimate expression of exit strategies developed over the last 70 years by right-wing economists and libertarians alike.
Guess what? You and your families are paying to subsidise mostly US mega-corporations to take over your towns, cities, green spaces both physically and digitally.
Brexit meant the UK duopoly could hand out public money in the form of State aid as profit motive for corporations setting up shop in free zones, this is illegal in the EU and is the main reason why the UK cannot rejoin for the next 25 years, why that time duration?
That is the length of the licenses for all free zones. This is a corporate coup. Next up? Enter Reform UK, leaving the ECHR, and charter cities.
This article (“Digital Colonization: Why AI Growth Zones Signal the End of Democratic Governance”) was created and published by EuropeanPowell and is republished here under “Fair Use”
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