'Not a single drop': AI data centre boom sparks water protests on Indonesian island

Around 300 residents of Batam island in Indonesia staged protests following severe water shortages that disrupted their daily lives and left some taps dry for up to three months. The demonstrators accused the ongoing boom of artificial intelligence data centres of depleting local freshwater resources and exacerbating the regional water crisis.

In response to the unrest, the local water utility has pledged infrastructure improvements, though public concerns regarding resource allocation and scarcity continue to mount as the digital infrastructure expands.