Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land
Summary
Most new artificial intelligence (AI) datacenters in the United States are planned to be built in areas currently facing severe drought. These datacenters use a large amount of water to keep their computers cool, which adds stress to regions already struggling with water shortages.Key Facts
- About two-thirds of 809 planned AI datacenters are in locations affected by drought.
- Existing datacenters are also mostly located in drought-affected areas.
- Datacenters can use up to 5 million gallons of water daily for cooling, similar to the water use of 50,000 people.
- Water demand from datacenters in the US could rise from 17 billion gallons in 2023 to 73 billion gallons by 2028.
- Major companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are investing heavily in new datacenters in dry regions.
- These dry locations are chosen partly because land is cheaper and tax breaks are available.
- Drought conditions across much of the US are worsened by climate change.
- Experts warn that growing water demand for datacenters may cause future conflicts over water access between datacenters and residents.
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