Sam Altman says Australia could be the data centre capital of the world, but do we want to be?

from The Radio National Hour · host Australian Broadcasting Corporation

A dedicated show to the debate that’s raging here and across the world over data centres, the vast digital warehouses that process, store and manage the information required to run our websites, apps, our google searches our cloud services and crucially Artificial Intelligence.The backlash to these digital factories in the US has prompted AI companies to look elsewhere, like Australia where there are more than 90 new facilities in the pipeline. Michael Bommarito is president of the non-profit research group - Institute for the Advancement of Legal and Ethical AI and one of the leading researchers tracking this phenomenon. He's the author of Why Communities Fight Data Centers and has documented the rapid rise of opposition movements across the United States.Sasha Titchkosky is a member of the Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group, which has been fighting against a proposal for five data centres for the northern Sydney suburb.Dr Dylan McConnell is an energy systems researcher at the University of NSW and Dr Bronwyn Cumbo is a Lecturer in the Trans-disciplinary School at UTS where she’s focusing on sustainable AI futures.Belinda Dennett is the CEO of the peak body, Data Centres Australia.

What this episode covers

A dedicated show to the debate that’s raging here and across the world over data centres, the vast digital warehouses that process, store and manage the information required to run our websites, apps, our google searches our cloud services and crucially Artificial Intelligence. The backlash to these digital factories in the US has prompted AI companies to look elsewhere, like Australia where there are more than 90 new facilities in the pipeline. Michael Bommarito is president of the non-profit research group - Institute for the Advancement of Legal and Ethical AI and one of the leading researchers tracking this phenomenon. He's the author of Why Communities Fight Data Centers and has documented the rapid rise of opposition movements across the United States. Sasha Titchkosky is a member of the Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group, which has been fighting against a proposal for five data centres for the northern Sydney suburb. Dr Dylan McConnell is an energy systems researcher at the University of NSW and Dr Bronwyn Cumbo is a Lecturer in the Trans-disciplinary School at UTS where she’s focusing on sustainable AI futures. Belinda Dennett is the CEO of the peak body, Data Centres Australia.