The environmental impact of data centers, and in particular of the hyperscale data centers rapidly being built around the U.S. (and around the world) for the ongoing training and deployment of AI models, has become a topic of public contention.
Amazon.com Inc. said its data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water worldwide last year, or about 5% of the amount metro Seattle consumes annually.
A massive Amazon data center already being built on Gilroy’s eastern edge has become a flashpoint over how much say residents get before Silicon Valley’s next wave of tech infrastructure arrives in their backyards.
In the small desert community of Inyokern, a developer’s plan to build an AI data center is drawing skepticism from residents and concern from officials in nearby Ridgecrest, largely because of water use in an already water-stressed area.
Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, according to a new report — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities.
A new report by the think tank Next10 and Santa Clara University reveals that many generative AI data centers are not being transparent about how much water they’re using.
