data centres

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces hit a data centre in Kyiv twice during a morning attack, according to a Ukrainian news report. The strike targeted critical digital infrastructure in the capital amid ongoing Russian air assaults on Ukrainian cities, though details on damage or casualties were not immediately provided.

Climate discussions in New York are being reshaped by two mounting pressures: rising energy costs for households and industry, and the surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centres. As negotiators and business leaders weigh decarbonisation goals against affordability and grid reliability, the rapid growth of AI is complicating plans to phase out fossil fuels, forcing climate policy to account for a new wave of power consumption.

A new report warns that climate change and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence are together placing unprecedented pressure on the world's water systems. Rising temperatures are disrupting rainfall and depleting supplies, while AI data centres consume vast amounts of water for cooling, intensifying competition for a scarce resource.

The European Union is moving to limit the energy and water consumption of data centres, a sector whose rapid growth driven by cloud computing and artificial intelligence has raised concerns over its environmental footprint. The proposal would impose new restrictions or efficiency requirements on operators across member states, and is drawing attention among technology and energy commentators.

AI companies that have taken on heavy debt to fund data centres and infrastructure are facing higher borrowing costs as bond yields rise. Rising yields increase the expense of refinancing, putting pressure on firms that have relied on cheap credit to finance the AI boom.

Big Tech is betting on smart glasses and AI-powered gadgets as its next major product category, but the devices face significant privacy challenges. Always-on cameras, microphones and AI assistants that continuously collect ambient data raise questions about consent, surveillance in public spaces and how companies will safeguard the information these wearables gather. The debate centres on whether consumers will accept the trade-off between convenience and constant data collection.

AT&S, the Austrian circuit board maker, is drawing attention for its role in producing substrates — the critical layers that connect advanced AI chips to the rest of a system. With demand for AI hardware surging, substrate supply has become a bottleneck, and companies like AT&S are racing to expand capacity to serve chipmakers and data centre builders.

Major technology companies are using guarantee structures to keep roughly $300 billion in AI-related financial commitments off their balance sheets, according to a Financial Times report. The arrangements, often backing data centre and infrastructure deals, raise questions about how much risk the sector is actually carrying as AI spending accelerates.

Australia's major political parties say a cyber breach at OpenAI demonstrates the case for building more domestic data centres, arguing the incident highlights the security and sovereignty risks of relying on foreign cloud and AI infrastructure. Supporters say local capacity would give governments and businesses greater control over sensitive data; critics are likely to question whether more data centres actually prevent breaches.

Venture capital firms that once prioritised carbon-cutting climate technologies are increasingly directing money toward companies that supply power for artificial intelligence, according to The Wall Street Journal. The shift reflects surging electricity demand from data centres, which has made energy generation and grid technologies a hotter bet for investors than emissions reduction itself.

Turkey has announced an initiative addressing artificial intelligence ahead of the COP31 climate summit. COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum said governments must openly discuss AI's growing energy consumption and 'start setting the terms,' signalling that the technology's power demands will be placed on the climate agenda. The move frames AI as an emerging environmental issue requiring international policy coordination.

Microsoft announced expanded Azure transparency reporting, new Surface devices and its own custom AI chips, strengthening its cloud and hardware lineup. The company is positioning the chips to reduce reliance on outside suppliers and to lower costs for AI workloads running across its data centres. Coverage focuses on how the moves fit Microsoft's broader push into artificial intelligence infrastructure alongside rivals such as Amazon, Google and Nvidia.

US-based chipmaker GlobalFoundries reports strong demand for Chinese optical modules as data centre construction accelerates, and is expanding its presence in China to serve domestic clients amid the infrastructure boom. The news, reported by the South China Morning Post, highlights how data centre buildout continues to drive semiconductor and optical component supply chains even as US-China tech tensions persist.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the government's announcement of a Medicare data hack, saying the disclosure was made 'purely in national interest'. The statement came as Australia news coverage also followed developments involving OpenAI, the United Nations and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, keeping the Medicare breach at the centre of national political discussion.

Nvidia has brought LG Electronics into its Partner Network as a preferred cooling provider, as the company works to address the enormous power and heat demands of its AI data centre hardware. The deal gives LG a direct route to supply thermal management technology, amid growing focus on cooling as a bottleneck for AI infrastructure.

Student protesters confronted an NVIDIA executive over the climate impact of artificial intelligence, according to the Indian Express. The confrontation highlights growing concern that AI's energy demands and data centre expansion are driving up emissions. No further details about the location, the executive involved, or the protesters' specific demands were reported.

British data centre startup Nscale is preparing a New York IPO valuing the company at around $35bn, with law firms Latham & Watkins and Milbank taking lead roles on the deal. The listing would mark one of the largest public market debuts by a UK-founded technology company in the United States, underscoring surging investor interest in AI infrastructure and data centre capacity.

European healthcare authorities are examining how to harmonise cross-border digital identity with the MyHealth@EU architecture, the framework allowing citizens to access health records and e-prescriptions across member states. The discussion centres on aligning national identity systems so patients can securely share medical data anywhere in the EU. Interoperability, privacy safeguards and standardisation remain the key challenges as the bloc moves toward wider digital health integration.

Advanced Micro Devices is being examined for its progress in edge AI computing and life sciences applications, raising questions about what the chipmaker is demonstrating in these emerging markets beyond its core data centre and PC businesses. Commentators are weighing whether its processors and accelerators can win a real foothold in these specialised sectors and what that would mean for investors and competitors.

Micron is being discussed as a key beneficiary of the AI boom, with attention focused on its memory chips used in AI data centres. The discussion centres on investment insights into whether the company's HBM and DRAM business can keep growing as demand for AI hardware accelerates.