AI Infrastructure: Rights, Risks and Responsibilities

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global economy at remarkable speed.  The physical state of this expansion - seen most notably in the development of new large-scale data centres - is gaining attention for the significant social and environmental costs linked to this infrastructure.
• Community opposition to these projects is already a material business risk. Over 100 grassroots groups worked to block data centre projects worth an estimated $64 billion across 28 US states between May 2024 and March 2025. Data centre projects have been cancelled or delayed in a number of other countries as well.
• The question for business leaders is not whether to engage with these risks, but how to do so before they become project-killing conflicts.
• Failure to address these issues is not just about equity and ethics; it has direct operational, reputational, and legal consequences for companies across the technology, energy, construction, and financial sectors. The supply chains for this infrastructure span multiple tiers - from mining, through refining and manufacturing, to the construction contractors, labour agencies, and logistics networks that build and service data centre facilities - and each part carries distinct human rights risks.
• This briefing provides concrete recommendations for corporate risk management and human rights due diligence for AI infrastructure projects. It draws on IHRB’s existing work including its Dignity by Design framework as well as established international standards, and lessons from sectors which have experienced similar challenges for decades, such as mining and energy.
• Managed growth under transparent and accountable governance frameworks can produce AI infrastructure that genuinely serves communities, distributes benefits more equitably, and builds the social licence on which long-term investment value depends. Companies that engage communities as partners, and that use their leverage across supply chains, will build the trust and operating licences that long-term success in the AI economy requires.

This briefing paper was conceptualised, researched, and authored by IHRB staff members. Generative artificial intelligence was used for support in: desk research; identification and retrieval of relevant sources; copy editing and proposed revisions of specific passages; and citation verification. All AI-assisted outputs were reviewed, evaluated, and either accepted, modified, or rejected by the authors. Final analytical judgements, normative positions, and responsibility for factual accuracy rest entirely with IHRB.

IHRB welcomes feedback on the analysis and recommendations in this paper, and is committed to engaging constructively with all stakeholders involved in, and impacted by AI infrastructure projects around the world.

Cite as: AI Infrastructure: Rights, Risks and Responsibilities (2026). Available at www.ihrb.org