Olly

Water bros

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Most people probably know that data centres (especially those dedicated to AI) consume vast amounts of power, but I didn’t realise quite how much water these internet engines guzzle every day as well.

Their Water Taps Ran Dry When Meta Built Next Door in the NY Times was a bit of an eye opener. 

In recent months, nine companies had applied to build data centers in Newton County, some asking for as much as six million gallons of water a day — more than the county’s entire daily use

This feels like a crisis waiting to happen, and for what? Our thirst for brainrot?

There are many applications of AI and intensive compute that are absolutely worth this investment, but I imagine this is a small part of total usage – the majority will be powering chatbots, social media, and streaming?

Renewable energy can (and hopefully will) be abundant and cheap, but fresh water is very limited. Given their reliance on the wet stuff, these data centres don’t sound particularly sustainable given global water shortages and the compounding effects of climate change on them. 

I’m not sure what this means long term or how it will play out, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot we can do to change course given that the tech lords are now in charge.