Data centres must pay their true costs
After New York’s recent moratorium on large artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, American senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued a statement saying, “New Yorkers aren’t convinced these massive facilities benefit them. Before we move forward, our communities need ironclad guarantees that their energy bills won’t spike, their water will be protected, and their air will remain clean.”
Do Indians deserve similar guarantees?
Around the world, protests are erupting against AI and its data centres. Young people feel especially disadvantaged; looking at the layoffs and tepid hiring across white-collar industries, it’s hard not to sympathise. Setting aside questions about the future of humanity, AI’s feet of clay — its data centres — exact tangible, if more mundane, costs across electricity, heat and water. Against this backdrop, the key question for India is not whether it should host these centres, but what it gets for doing so.
Let’s start with power. A 100MW site...
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