LONDON: Mayors from 40 cities, including London, Phoenix and Melbourne, agree to work together to curb the growing strain the rapid growth in data centres is placing on electricity grids, water supplies and local communities, city leaders say.

A global surge in demand for computing power, much of it connected to artificial intelligence (AI), is driving trillions of dollars in investment in new sites, sparking protests in countries from the United States to South Africa and the United Kingdom.