Australian officials: datacentre backlash is a faux import from the US

Australian politicians and business leaders say growing public resentment of AI datacentres is an inauthentic import from the US. They cite 252 datacentres with 1.4 GW of capacity in Australia versus 5,400 and 53.7 GW in the US. Three government inquiries are under way and a national moratorium has been proposed.

• Australia has 252 datacentres at 1.4 GW; the US has 5,400 at 53.7 GW
• Planned projects include 2.4 GW near Melbourne and 2 GW in the Northern Territory
• Two state inquiries and one federal inquiry are examining the sector
• The government plans to ban gas powering datacentres