OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back on claims that ChatGPT usage consumes excessive water, comparing it to a viral claim that a single query uses as much water as running a shower for six hours. Speaking on the Sources Podcast, he said 38,000 queries equate to the water needed to grow one almond in California, and argued modern data centers no longer rely on evaporative cooling, instead using water similar to an office building.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-03
The EPA has proposed eliminating a federal rule that requires states to notify the public and accept comments before issuing air pollution permits for data centers and other industrial facilities. States would still be allowed to hold public comment periods voluntarily, but would no longer be required to do so as a condition of granting permits. The proposal comes amid growing local opposition to the rapid construction of AI-driven data centers nationwide.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-03
New polling shows roughly 75% of Americans, including many Republican voters, oppose having data centers built near their communities, comparing the intensity of that opposition to resistance against Social Security cuts. Despite this, President Trump is intensifying his support for data center growth just before the midterm elections, and some GOP officials have dismissed the backlash as an orchestrated psyop rather than genuine grassroots concern.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-03
Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist who relies on AI for research, spent eight weeks tracking 1,138 prompts he sent to Claude Code to estimate the electricity consumed at the data centers processing them. His findings suggest that AI agents, which perform multi-step autonomous tasks, draw significantly more power than the simple chatbot queries tech companies typically cite as low-energy examples.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-03
An executive order signed by President Trump declares a national emergency over foreign-made bulk-power equipment, giving the Energy Department authority to block or restrict transactions involving certain grid and data center components. Analysts say Chinese suppliers provide significant portions of the transformers, switchgear, batteries and optical technology that power U.S. data centers, exposing a vulnerability in America's AI infrastructure buildout even as U.S. firms lead in chips and compute hardware.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-03
A new PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis, cited by Bloomberg, projects that worldwide spending on data centers could reach $31.6 trillion by 2050, with more than $15 trillion of that total in the United States alone. Under a more optimistic scenario involving faster AI adoption, PwC estimates spending could climb as high as $50 trillion over the next 25 years.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-03
As Trump publicly warned communities against opposing AI data centers, a group called Build American AI—backed by the PAC Leading the Future—is rolling out a large ad campaign in battleground states like Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin to build public support for new AI infrastructure. The push comes as an Annenberg Public Policy Center study found 61% of US adults now oppose new data centers near their homes, driven by concerns over rising utility costs, environmental impact and general distrust of AI.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
At the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued alongside Anthropic's Tom Brown that AI growth requires more data centers, launching a US effort to persuade global leaders to support them. The pitch comes even as roughly 3,400 data centers already operate in the US with 2,000 more planned, drawing bipartisan opposition over energy demands, water use and rising utility costs. The summit itself drew about 100 protesters objecting to appearances by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Lutnick.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
Greenpeace says the rollout of Apple's AI features, including the upcoming Siri overhaul, will strain the company's renewable energy commitments due to the heavy electricity and water demands of large-scale data centers. The environmental group, which has praised Apple's clean energy record for over a decade, says Apple must now prove it can scale AI without abandoning those climate goals.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-02
GoPro announced a $285 million merger with optical-photonics firm Starman Optical, aiming to enter the AI infrastructure market through Starman's optical transceiver technology. The camera maker also plans to expand into defense, government, robotics and aerospace sectors while retaining its core action-camera business. The news comes days after YouTuber Markiplier disclosed an 8.5% stake, becoming GoPro's largest individual shareholder.
slashdot.org
· 2026-09-01
SB Energy, a data center infrastructure company backed by SoftBank, Nvidia and OpenAI, has filed for an initial public offering with the SEC. The filing discloses net losses of about $3.2 billion for the first half of 2026 against roughly $139 million in revenue, mostly from its legacy energy business, while none of its planned AI data centers are yet operational.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-01
GoPro announced a merger with optical-photonics company Starman Optical, a deal valued at $285 million that will pay off GoPro's roughly $92 million in outstanding debt. Existing GoPro shareholders will retain about 10 percent ownership of the combined, still publicly traded company, which expects the deal to close by the end of 2026 pending shareholder and regulatory approval. Beyond its camera and subscription business, GoPro plans to expand into optical transceivers for AI infrastructure, along with defense, government, robotics and aerospace markets.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-01
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