From Malaysia to the Philippines, residents have begun resisting power-hungry AI projects planned next to their homes
4-MIN READ4-MINVincent TanPublished: 12:00pm, 25 Aug 2026Residents of Section 9 in Kota Damansara thought they knew what was coming to the vacant land opposite their homes. The site, beside a community forest in the Malaysian township, was expected to become a high street retail development.Instead, they learned that Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had received an application for two three-storey data centre blocks – part of the vast physical infrastructure now being built across Southeast Asia to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
To governments, data centres promise foreign investment, digital jobs and a place in the fast-growing AI economy. To nearby residents, however, they can look very different: utility-hungry buildings raising questions over noise, water use, traffic and land suitability.
By July 21, the council had received about 290 objections, and nine days later it announced that the developer’s consultant had withdrawn the application to reassess the site’s feasibility and development components.
The proponent walked out, and local media reported two days later that the proposal had been withdrawn.
