Are Data Centres Taking Over?

The federal government has unveiled a two-billion-dollar AI strategy aimed at boosting jobs, skills training, and business growth, alongside plans to build large-scale AI data centres powered by clean energy. But as these projects move into communities, opposition is mounting. Recent protests in Hamilton and an Angus Reid poll showing 68 per cent of Canadians would oppose a data centre near their home raise questions about public buy-in. With roughly 100 data centres already in Ontario, do more bring opportunity or risk? We examine the concerns and separate fact from fiction with Kathleen Kauth of the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS and Mark Winfield of York University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.