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B. Grimm Power and Digital Edge to Invest $1 Billion in Thailand Data Centre

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Thai energy firm B. Grimm Power Pcl and Singapore-based digital infrastructure company Digital Edge announced a joint investment of $1 billion to build a 100-megawatt data centre in Thailand. This project aims to meet rising demand for digital infrastructure powered by clean energy, driven in part by surging interest in artificial intelligence technologies across Southeast Asia.

Thailand, the region’s second-largest economy, has become a hotspot for tech giants investing heavily in data centres. Notably, TikTok’s parent company Bytedance plans to invest $8.8 billion over five years, while Google is also preparing to launch a $1 billion data centre facility in the country. Earlier this year, Thailand’s investment board approved $3 billion in investments specifically targeted at data centres and energy projects.

Microsoft last year announced plans for its first regional data centre in Thailand, further solidifying the country’s status as a growing digital hub.

B. Grimm Power and Digital Edge said construction will be “fast-tracked” to have the data centre operational by the fourth quarter of 2026, catering to global tech firms looking to expand AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia. Harald Link, Group President of B. Grimm Power, highlighted the synergy between renewable energy and advanced data centre technology, stating the project will support Thailand’s transformation into a regional AI and cloud innovation centre.

OpenAI Appeals Court Order on Data Preservation in NYT Copyright Lawsuit

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OpenAI has appealed a recent court order requiring it to indefinitely preserve ChatGPT output data in an ongoing copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times (NYT). The company argues that the order conflicts with its obligations to protect user privacy.

Last month, the court mandated that OpenAI must preserve and segregate all output log data, after the NYT requested this as part of the discovery process. In response, OpenAI filed a motion on June 3 to vacate the data preservation order, according to a court filing.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly criticized the order on X, stating, “We will fight any demand that compromises our users’ privacy; this is a core principle.” He added that the NYT’s request was “inappropriate” and “sets a bad precedent.”

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, accuses OpenAI and its partner Microsoft of using millions of NYT articles without permission to train their language models, including the one powering ChatGPT. The Times alleges that this constitutes copyright infringement.

U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein previously ruled that the Times had made a plausible case that OpenAI and Microsoft may have induced users to infringe on its copyrights. In an earlier opinion, the judge allowed the case to proceed, citing numerous and widely publicized instances where ChatGPT reproduced substantial portions of Times content.

While the NYT declined to comment on OpenAI’s appeal, the case remains one of the highest-profile legal challenges facing generative AI companies over training data use and copyright infringement claims.

UN Report: AI Boom Drives 150% Surge in Tech Giants’ Indirect Emissions

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A new United Nations report revealed on Thursday that indirect carbon emissions from the operations of four major AI-driven tech giants—Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta—rose by an average of 150% between 2020 and 2023. The sharp increase is largely driven by the vast energy demands of data centers powering artificial intelligence systems.

The report, published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the U.N.’s digital technologies agency, analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions of 200 leading digital companies over the three-year period. Indirect emissions include those generated from purchased electricity, heating, cooling, and steam consumed by a company’s operations.

Among the companies surveyed, Amazon posted the largest rise, with operational carbon emissions soaring 182% over the period. Microsoft followed with a 155% increase, while Meta and Alphabet saw rises of 145% and 138%, respectively.

The growing reliance on AI has led to surging energy demands, with electricity consumption from data centers growing four times faster than overall global electricity usage, according to the ITU. The report projects that carbon emissions from top-emitting AI systems could eventually reach 102.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, further straining existing energy infrastructures.

In response, several companies highlighted their ongoing sustainability efforts. Meta referred Reuters to its sustainability report, stating that it is taking steps to reduce emissions, energy use, and water consumption in its data centers. Amazon emphasized its investments in carbon-free energy projects, including both nuclear and renewable sources. Microsoft pointed to its recent progress in improving energy efficiency, including transitioning to chip-level liquid cooling technologies that consume less energy than traditional cooling systems.

However, the ITU noted that while more digital companies are setting ambitious emissions targets, many of these commitments have yet to translate into meaningful reductions in actual emissions. The report underscores the growing challenge of balancing AI’s rapid expansion with environmental sustainability.