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Water joins energy as top AI flashpoint
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Water is fast becoming one of the defining fights around the AI buildout.
Key facts
- The projections for water demand are not eyebrow-raising," said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University
- Friction point: Roughly 70% of people in the U.S. said they would oppose data centers in their communities, with equal weight placed on water and energy use as top concerns, according to Gallup
- Water is fast becoming one of the defining fights around the AI buildout
- Transparency is emerging as a key next phase of AI water worries
Summary
After spending much of the past year defending data centers' electricity demands, major tech companies driving the AI boom are increasingly making the case that their water use is manageable too. Over the past several weeks, Google, Amazon and Microsoft have each launched new efforts to explain and justify the water use of their AI infrastructure, highlighting measures such as water replenishment projects, recycled-water use and new cooling technologies. Nvidia, the world's dominant AI chip maker, claimed this week that water concerns could be largely addressed by its latest generation of technology. What they're saying: "The growing conversation about water and energy use by data centers has forced these companies to scramble, to rethink what they're doing and to become more transparent about what they're doing," said Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute, a California-based water research nonprofit, and one of the nation's leading water experts.