Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) embodies a system’s capacity to autonomously collect and interpret data from its environment, learn from that data, and apply these insights to inform decision making, problem solving and actions that traditionally require human intelligence. At the heart of this technological process are data centres — facilities where AI models are trained, deployed and maintained. As AI infrastructures expand rapidly across the globe, they bring into sharper focus the often-overlooked costs of digital innovation, particularly their entanglement with extractive economies and conflict dynamics.