Queen guitarist Brian May recently shared an A.I.-generated attempt at recreating the band’s “The Game” album cover, pointing out its shortcomings while issuing a broader warning about artificial intelligence and data centers.
May explained that he had asked Meta AI to generate an image of the album cover. The result highlighted what he sees as the technology’s flaws.
“I just had to share this with you guys. I asked Meta AI to show me what the cover of THE GAME album looked like. This is what it gave me! Good job, eh?” Brian May said. “So this is the kind of intelligence that will soon be ruling the world??! Well, great. Maybe this is the time to realize that WE ACTUALLY DON’T NEED AI!!!”
May then shifted from the humorous mishap to a more serious concern about the expansion of A.I. infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
“But I’m now very serious. I believe the price we are about to pay for this ‘inevitable’ development is way too high. We must not allow these hideous Data Centres to be built in the UK,” he continued. “They will destroy our beautiful country, like they are already destroying beautiful America. Dear Andy — you must stop it now. Before it’s too late.”
May’s warning lands amid a wider reckoning over the true cost of Britain’s A.I. ambitions, one that goes well beyond a botched album cover.
Britain already has roughly 550 to 565 operational data centers. Government and industry projections show that capacity needs to more than double, from around 1.6 gigawatts to somewhere between 3.3 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2030. That scale of growth has turned data centers into one of the most contentious infrastructure fights in the country. Celebrities are increasingly joining the pushback that May is now part of.
Water and energy groups have raised alarms that the rollout is moving ahead without proper regard for its environmental toll, particularly the strain it places on water supplies and the electrical grid. Water UK has told members of Parliament that the government’s major A.I. strategies fail to make “a single mention” of water. Facilities consume enormous volumes of it for cooling, and Environment Agency forecasts point to mounting shortages.
The tension has grown sharper as drought conditions have taken hold across half of England, prompting fresh calls for the government to pause the rapid buildout of these facilities. Critics argue that local communities are being sidelined in decisions about where and how quickly these projects move forward. Demand for computing power keeps climbing regardless.
May’s Instagram post channels that same frustration, framing his objection to A.I. data centers as both a practical concern over Britain’s resources and a broader statement about the technology’s costs outweighing its benefits.
