Alberta virtual town hall addresses AI data centre concerns

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her ministers fielded questions from more than 12,500 residents during a virtual town hall on Thursday night, addressing widespread concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of proposed artificial intelligence data centres in the province. The event, the third of four planned town halls, focused on issues including water usage, power grid reliability, and the proximity of these large computing facilities to residential areas. The meeting came as the provincial government seeks to position Alberta as a hub for AI infrastructure, a strategy Smith has described as creating "digital refineries.