DAYS after the Government announced proposals to construct artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in Trinidad and Tobago, growing public concern over the possible environmental cost and strain on the country’s utilities saw thousands supporting a petition to suspend the projects pending consultation.

Within 24 hours of its launch, the change.org petition, which seeks to halt approvals for the proposed construction of a 300MW data centre to be developed by Ernst & Young LLP and a proposed 150MW artificial intelligence infrastructure and data-centre facility with potential expansion to 500MW by Hummingbird AI Holdings LLC, garnered at least 8,500 signatures yesterday.

The Government over the weekend announced two Memoranda of Understanding on the development of these data centres, at a time when international tech companies continue to spend on AI-related spending globally as part of a development boom, despite backlash on data-centre construction. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that tech companies, governments and their partners will spend nearly US$3 trillion on data centres by 2028, some in pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (machines that match or exceed human cognitive abilities) and improved user experiences.