Normal view

Received — 9 July 2026 ⏭

The Guardian - Energy
Datacentres are a ticking timebomb. We must make sure AI’s benefits outweigh the costs | Nicki Hutley 8 July 2026 at 16:00

Datacentres are a ticking timebomb. We must make sure AI’s benefits outweigh the costs | Nicki Hutley

8 July 2026 at 16:00

They suck up energy and water, and blast out heat. Just who is better off from all this investment – aside from tech bros?

The two great existential threats of our time – the climate crisis and AI – come hurtling together in the explosion of datacentres across Australia and around the world.

You can hardly avoid hearing about them these days, either with awed reverence of the promised benefits to humankind or with fear and anger given the implications for the climate, inflation, jobs and even housing affordability.

Received — 11 June 2026 ⏭

The Guardian - Energy
Labor to set terms for datacentre and AI growth as it vows not to repeat mistakes of resources boom 11 June 2026 at 05:27

Labor to set terms for datacentre and AI growth as it vows not to repeat mistakes of resources boom

The Guardian - Energy

By: Josh Taylor and Petra Stock

11 June 2026 at 05:27

Assistant minister agrees concerns over resource usage are legitimate but argues Australia cannot ignore ‘consequential’ economic wave

Australia should learn from the mistakes of the resources boom and set the terms for the AI and datacentres boom, the assistant minister for the digital economy, Andrew Charlton says.

Growth in datacentres has exploded in the past two years, Charlton told the Sydney Institute on Wednesday night, with 44 projects in the pipeline in New South Wales alone seeking 11GW of capacity on the electricity grid.