Microsoft data center in Mexico linked to power outages and water shortages
Microsoft's AI data center opening in central Mexico reportedly coincided with increased electrical blackouts and multi-week water shortages affecting local residents. Tech companies operating data centers globally face similar challenges in over a dozen countries, with limited regulatory oversight and transparency about resource consumption.
What happened
When Microsoft opened a data center in central Mexico, residents reported increasingly frequent electrical blackouts and water cuts that lasted weeks.
Data centers require large amounts of electricity for computing and water for cooling computers. According to a New York Times examination, the facilities have contributed to or exacerbated disruptions in Mexico and more than a dozen other countries.
Reported impact
Communities near the Microsoft data center in Mexico experienced more frequent power outages and prolonged water shortages lasting weeks.
Index analysis
Tech companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others often work through subsidiaries and service providers to build data centers, masking their presence and revealing little about the resources consumed by the facilities.
Many governments have provided cheap land, tax exemptions and resource access while adopting a hands-off approach to regulation and transparency, according to the New York Times examination.
Governance controls
The problems have been worsened by lack of transparency, with governments eager to establish themselves in the AI field while adopting a non-interventionist approach to regulation.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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