Exclusive: Planning documents show impact of Thurrock ‘hyperscale’ unit as UK attempts to ramp up AI capacity

• Business live – latest updates

• UK and US line up deals to build modular nuclear reactors in Britain

A new Google datacentre in Essex is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year , equivalent to about 500 short-haul flights a week, planning documents show.

Spread across 52 hectares (128 acres), the Thurrock “hyperscale datacentre” will be part of a wave of mammoth computer and AI power houses if it secures planning consent.

Research suggests increase in office snooping in trend that some managers claim undermines trust with staff

• How employers are gathering Australian workers’ data

• Share your experience of tech surveillance at work in the UK

A third of UK employers are using “bossware” technology to track workers’ activity with the most common methods including monitoring emails and web browsing.

Private companies are most likely to deploy in-work surveillance and one in seven employers are recording or reviewing screen activity, according to a UK-wide survey that estimates the extent of office snooping.

Exclusive: A third of those polled do not tell bosses about use of tools and half think AI threatens the social structure

It is the work shortcut that dare not speak its name. A third of people do not tell their bosses about their use of AI tools amid fears their ability will be questioned if they do.

Research for the Guardian has revealed that only 13% of UK adults openly discuss their use of AI with senior staff at work and close to half think of it as a tool to help people who are not very good at their jobs to get by.