FOUND: What problems is the ai data centre boom causing worldwide | Mind Blowing Facts

As part of our mini-series looking at AI hyperscale data centres, let's take a look at what is happening outside of Scotland.

Memphis and Elon Musk’s Colossus

Trillionaire Elon Musk made Greater Memphis in Tennessee the centre of his AI ambitions in 2024, building data centres and energy infrastructure at a blistering pace.

It has left residents in the local area grabbing with the unwanted impact of noise pollution and emission from gas-burning turbines. The data centres were initially built to train and run XAI’s Grok models and chatbot, which prompted outrage after it was used to create fake sexual images.

There has been public opposition to the SpaceXAI sites Colossus and Colossus II, and it has led to communities across the US using the project as a blueprint for their opposition to other AI developments.

In July, New York Governor Kathy Hochul brought in a one-year moratorium on the construction of AI data centres in the state, while New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill brought in legislation to ensure data centre operators pay a fair share of electricity costs – rather than shifting the burden on to local residents and businesses.

One local resident Jason Haley, whose house is whin a mile of the site, told CNBC that the noise from Colossus II and its gas-burning turbines is “like a form of torture”.

Residents in the local area also told the broadcaster that their water and electricity bills have gone up after the data centre was set up, but Memphis Light Gas & Water insisted rates have “not been impacted”.

Microsoft, Meta, Google, Open AI and other developers of hyperscale data centres are also planning developments across the US. However, according to a Gallup poll from May, seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of AI data centres in their local area, and nearly half (48%), say they are strongly opposed.

Virginia’s “Data Centre Alley”

Loudoun County, in northern Virginia, due to its tax breaks – on average 25% lower than in neighbouring counties – has become the most densely populated area in the world for AI data centres. It is currently home to 12% of the world’s capacity for the sites that power AI, a world record. There are 200 of them, with more in the pipeline which have been approved or in the process of getting it.

While it has become the epicentre for hyperscale data centres, an equivalent push back has also taken place from those concerned about the environmental impact. A survey conducted by George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, found that 40% of Loudoun County residents believe the data centres are worsening their quality of life. This compares to 19% who feel they are improving it, and 40% who think there is no difference.

Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council, which covers a large area of where most of the infrastructure is concentrated, told Le Monde that if all the ongoing projects in the pipeline were built, it would require quadrupling the current capacity of the electricity grid.

Europe

Across Europe, a push for a rapid expansion of AI data centres is facing a similar public backlash, particularly over energy and water consumption.

Local opposition groups have sprung up across the continent to protest the impacts of this expansion. In Aragon in Spain, one of the driest areas in the country, Amazon is putting billions of pounds of investment into data centers in the area. Aurora Gómez, of the Spanish campaign group Tu Nube Seca Mi Río (Your cloud is drying my river), told Politico that there had been 24 hyperscale data centres approved in the space of three years.

She added that “the regional government had to put some grants for the farmers because there is such a drought that the crops are dying.”

In Italy, the Lombardy region – the country’s main digital hub – approved a framework in June this year to regulate and manage demand for data centres. Officials sought to make it cheaper for developers to use brownfield sites rather than building on parks or farmland.

According to a Politecnico study, in the 2026-2028 period, 30 companies – including 19 new operators – have announced 83 new infrastructure projects in Italy with a potential value of 25.4 billion euros.

Denmark, which was seen as an “attractive jurisdiction” for data centre projects, had to put in place an emergency plan earlier this year due to capacity problems with the electricity grid. The Danish Government and Parliament agreed to the plan which would prioritise which data centres could access the grid, putting in place a distinction between those linked to “societally critical functions” and those which are not.

France has also seen opposition from local communities when it comes to data centres. A data centre UK company Segro wants to build in Le Bourget, in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, is one such case. Citizen collective Le Nuage était sous nos pieds (The Cloud Was Beneath Our Feet) said there were about 15 projects that have sparked tensions across the country. An administrative court in Grenoble suspended a building permit for a 40 mega watt data centre development developed by Sesterce, due to the lack of an environmental impact study.

Malaysia

Acute water constraints have had an impact on rapid data centre expansion, concentrated in Johor, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The three areas together host 101 data centers, with the lion’s share, 72, set up in Johor that borders Singapore. Malaysia’s water reserves are already facing increasing pressure from climate change, industrial growth and rapid urbanisation, with rising demand from the data centre industry causing concerns there could be water shortages.

Charles Santiago, chairman of the Malaysian Water Services Commission, said at a press conference that “alternative water sources must be considered to prevent a crisis”. The Malaysian Government has said it is working on stricter sustainability policies for the data centre industry.