{
  "id": 15764553,
  "title": "NST Leader: Rewriting rule book for data centres",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/nst-leader-rewriting-rule-book-for-data-centres",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-20T16:06:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2026/10/1560092/nst-leader-rewriting-rule-book-data-centres"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As of now, 6.12 billion people, or 74 per cent of the Earth's population, engage with the Internet for various purposes. Over time, communication, entertainment, education, and work have evolved from simple messaging, banking, and news to encompass video and music streaming, virtual classrooms, and corporate communications for the knowledge and gig economies. The Internet now serves as the dominant wealth generator, with 12,260 data centres operating across 180 countries. Among these, the United States leads with 5,430 facilities, comprising 45 per cent of the global infrastructure, followed by the United Kingdom, China, Germany, France, and India.\n\nMalaysia, while modestly contributing with 26 operators across 64 facilities, has witnessed significant investment of up to RM386 billion from 2021 to the present day. However, the US$10 trillion artificial intelligence (AI) boom is causing considerable challenges, including project delays, investor apprehension, and public protests. These protests, which have also emerged in Malaysia, revolve around concerns over environmental impact, resource depletion, and energy degradation. Malaysians are urging the government to prohibit data centres near residential areas, fearing that server cooling systems will extract water from residential and agricultural resources.\n\nPredictions suggest that by 2035, data centres could consume one-third of Malaysia's total energy consumption. To address this, the Malaysian government has drafted the Digital Infrastructure (Data Centre) Bill, spearheaded by the Economy Ministry. The bill aims to regulate industry growth while mitigating adverse environmental effects. In response to public backlash, the Johor government has rejected 30 per cent of data centre applications in 2024 due to poor sustainability planning and excessive water consumption. In February, Putrajaya suspended non-AI data centres to conserve resources. While data centres are essential for progress, the urgency lies in ensuring they do not come at the expense of environmental sustainability and infrastructure.",
  "summary": "AS of now, 6.12 billion people, or 74 per cent of the Earth’s population, use the Internet for communication, entertainment, education and work.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}