Technologyai
The island where locals say data centres are taking their water
Residents of the Indonesian island of Batam have protested against local data centres, claiming that massive water consumption has left their household taps dry for months. The protests highlight growing global tensions between rapid AI infrastructure expansion and local resource availability. While authorities blame prolonged dry spells for the shortages, experts note that water usage data remains scarce. Communities worldwide are increasingly pushing back against the heavy resource demands of data centres.