Miguel Afonso Caetano"Bloomberg News found that about two-thirds of new data centers built or in development since 2022 are in places already gripped by high levels of water stress. While these facilities are popping up all over the country, five states alone account for 72% of the new centers in high-stress areas.
Tech giants are racing to expand with new — and larger — data centers to support AI, consuming more resources, including water. That only adds to concerns that communities facing water shortages will have to compete with data center operators to access clean water.
The problem has been years in the making. Some tech companies are trying to find ways to address it, without creating other environmental drawbacks. Meanwhile, the proportion of data centers in water-stressed regions is at a record high.
Even before ChatGPT launched in late 2022, communities complained about data centers guzzling up millions of gallons of water every day from cities that didn’t have all that much to spare. The problem has only deepened in the years since ChatGPT kicked off an AI frenzy."
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-impacts-data-centers-water-data/
#AI #GenerativeAI #DataCenters #Water #WaterScarcity #BigTech #Drought
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