‘An intrusion’: data centre fights test Southeast Asia’s AI ambitions

Residents across Southeast Asia, from a Malaysian township to the Philippine province of Iloilo, are resisting data centre projects planned near their homes, citing concerns over noise, water use, and land suitability. In Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, the council received about 290 objections by July 21, leading the developer's consultant to withdraw the application on July 30 to reassess the site's feasibility. In Iloilo, a proposed 50-megawatt AI data centre was withdrawn after a public hearing where residents and farmers questioned the project.

‘An intrusion’: data centre fights test Southeast Asia’s AI ambitions From Malaysia to the Philippines, residents have begun resisting power-hungry AI projects planned next to their homes Malaysian https://www.scmp.com/topics/malaysia?module=inline&pgtype=article township, was expected to become a high street retail development. Instead, they learned that Petaling Jaya City Council MBPJ had received an application for two three-storey data centre blocks – part of the vast physical infrastructure now being built across Southeast Asia to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence. To governments, data centres promise foreign investment, digital jobs and a place in the fast-growing AI economy. To nearby residents, however, they can look very different: utility-hungry buildings raising questions over noise, water use, traffic and land suitability. By July 21, the council had received about 290 objections, and nine days later it announced that the developer’s consultant had withdrawn the application to reassess the site’s feasibility and development components. Philippine https://www.scmp.com/topics/philippines?module=inline&pgtype=article province of Iloilo, where residents and farmers questioned a proposed 50-megawatt AI data centre during a public hearing. The proponent walked out, and local media reported two days later that the proposal had been withdrawn.