Data Center Watch reports that local resistance blocked or delayed $68 billion worth of data center construction between April and June 2026, driven by concerns over water use, electricity demand, land, and noise. Despite this pushback, hyperscalers have poured over $1 trillion into data infrastructure since 2023, with $745 billion more expected this year alone, and total data center investment is still projected to reach $32 trillion by 2050.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-21
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
Communities in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona are protesting new AI data centers over concerns about water consumption, energy use and pollution. Data centers use water for cooling systems that manage heat generated by processors, which can reach internal temperatures near 176 degrees Fahrenheit. While estimates suggest data centers consumed about 66 billion liters of water in 2023—under 1 percent of total U.S. water use—that figure could grow sharply as AI infrastructure expands.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-27
A Congressional Research Service report cited by the Library of Congress estimates US data centers consumed 17 billion gallons of water in 2023, about triple the 2014 level. Over 80% of that footprint comes indirectly from electricity generation needed to power the facilities, rather than from onsite cooling systems.
forgeeks.net
· 2026-08-25
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