The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Hamilton city councillors rejected on Wednesday a temporary pause on new data centres that was eyed as a possible model for other municipalities amid the artificial-intelligence boom. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says the city would have been the first in Canada to pass a data centre moratorium as lawmakers across the country wrestle with the noise, energy and water concerns surrounding the new wave of facilities powering AI services. Instead, several councillors who voted against the pause suggested it could threaten new investments in a city with a flagging industrial sector. and put in jeopardy smaller data centre proposals with research components. "I think it will hold back Hamilton and reduce opportunity for many, many Hamiltonians and for generations to come," mayor Andrea Horwath said before voting against the moratorium. The 10-6 vote came after councillors held a lengthy closed-door session with the city's lawyers that advised a data centre project led by McMaster University would have been exempt under the proposed pause.