EXOq is a £900m technology centre funded by Oxford University's Exeter College, proposed to be located on the outskirts of the city. This centre would focus predominantly on AI and its development, with the University citing leading AI research in the UK. This centre is said to be dedicated to finding ways in which AI could help the economy, environment, and public health. 

Nearly 3,000 people have died unnecessarily due to heatwaves in 2026, and Oxford University's decision to back AI, a known contributor to international environmental breakdown, is distasteful at best and seriously harmful at worst. Spending nearly a billion pounds on AI development while tensions between those who oppose the technology and the billionaires funding and developing it continues to grow worldwide voices Oxford University's abundantly clear viewpoint on this issue. 

Looking around the city of Oxford, one can easily find graffiti on University buildings with messages such as 'The West survives on genocide' and 'Free Palestine', and studies have shown that people who have received higher education are more likely to be politically left-leaning, and so the University's decision to fund and build what is essentially an AI data centre on the outskirts of the city of Oxford is evidently opposed to the left-wing narratives found so easily among the student body. This is not to say that all Oxford students oppose AI, but if we look at the effects of AI data centres elsewhere - and particularly in the US - these cause far more issues than the University has commented on, including environmental issues which the University say their AI will be helping to reduce. 

This petition, with the right support, could prove to Oxford University and the city council that AI development is not in the interest of residents, members of the University, and prospective applicants.