Fury Mounts over a Global A.I. Frenzy (www.nytimes.com)

A New York Times investigation highlights growing global backlash as a surge in AI-driven data center construction strains local power and water systems. In central Mexico, residents near a new Microsoft facility report more frequent blackouts, extended water outages, school closures and health harms — incidents mirrored in countries from Ireland to Chile and South Africa. The scale is large: Synergy Research Group found nearly 60% of the 1,244 biggest data centers are outside the U.S., and at least 575 additional projects are in development by firms including OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, Meta and Alibaba. The significance for the AI/ML community is twofold: modern AI workloads require massive electrical power and substantial water for cooling, so continued rapid deployment risks damaging public infrastructure, public health and natural resources (e.g., Ireland’s data centers use >20% of national electricity; Chile’s aquifers are threatened). The story also flags governance problems — companies often build via subsidiaries or third parties, obscuring consumption, while governments offer incentives and lax oversight. The implication: scaling AI compute sustainably will demand more transparent reporting, tougher local regulation, investment in energy- and water-efficient cooling and compute technologies, and planning to avoid imposing externalities on vulnerable communities.