Pakistan, July 15 -- On Tuesday, New York made headlines for becoming the first American state to halt construction of large new data centres amid fast-growing concerns pertaining to power costs and water supplies. The state has not turned its back on artificial intelligence, nor has it declared digital infrastructure undesirable. It has simply acknowledged what many governments are now learning the hard way: the machinery behind the digital economy is not weightless.

The moratorium applies to data centres requiring 50MW or more of electricity. During the pause, New York will develop environmental standards before allowing such facilities to proceed. There were reportedly more than 12 GW of large energy loads, including data centres, wai...