The heartbeat of the artificial intelligence (AI) economy sounds like a low-frequency thrum of a neighbour’s central air-conditioning unit, a plane flying overhead at high altitude or a truck engine idling down the road. But it feels like the vibrating, rhythmic pulse of a subwoofer from a party that will never end. Yes, the cloud has a sound, and some who live closest to data centres that emit the noise have reached their wit’s end trying to block it out.