Several states have started legislating around cooling, including California, Michigan, and Iowa, which are weighing mandatory water-use reporting. South Carolina and Kansas may require closed-loop systems, and New York lawmakers have floated an outright data center moratorium. Each measure targets the visible 4%, and leaves the fabrication and generation demand that drives most of AI's water growth untouched.
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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist.\u00a0 Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.\u00a0 ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-24/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Luke James Social Links Navigation Contributor Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
hotaru251 can't wait for the "find out" phase to hit. Arizona for example is projected to be uninhabitable to humans in just 20-40 years due to their water issues..and this was before the ai boom and their water hungry selves dropped in. edit: do fixed to due as didn't realize I used wrong one Reply
bit_user The article makes a good point that even if closed-loop cooling systems are used at the data centers, most power plants feeding them do consume water as part of the electricity generation process. Reply
Trake_17 Does anyone else think the push for AI feels kind of violent? It feels kind of violent, at minimum dangerous. And what really is the need? If you say, 'dude it's the same as any shift in technology,' but what is any of it really for? Solve a bunch of old problems, create a bunch of new problems, same life it ever it was except the new problems seem to be existential scale issues. Aren't you just tired? Can't we just… Not. Reply
SkyBill40 "Data center operators routinely note that the sector uses a fraction of what agriculture does, but that’s only accounting for one of three legs." FOOD we need; AI we do not. Reply
Mikem616 The United States agricultural system produces enough food to feed approximately 136% of its population. This means the country produces about 36% more food than is necessary to feed all Americans. Reply
usertests Mikem616 said: The United States agricultural system produces enough food to feed approximately 136% of its population. This means the country produces about 36% more food than is necessary to feed all Americans. https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply. This estimate, based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service of 31 percent food loss at the retail and consumer levels, corresponded to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010. This amount of waste has far-reaching impacts on society: Wholesome food that could have helped feed families in need is sent to landfills. Land, water, labor, energy and other inputs are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of discarded food. Reply
bit_user Mikem616 said: The United States agricultural system produces enough food to feed approximately 136% of its population. This means the country produces about 36% more food than is necessary to feed all Americans. Food is an export, so it helps offset the trade deficit. You also need to over-produce in typical years, if you want to make sure you've got enough during lean years. This helps with price stability, as well. Reply
SkyBill40 Mikem616 said: The United States agricultural system produces enough food to feed approximately 136% of its population. This means the country produces about 36% more food than is necessary to feed all Americans. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but are you insinuating that because we have an overabundance of food, we need more AI? One thing in this comment is fundamentally necessary for life, while the other is an experiment in functional laziness. Just making sure we're on the same page. Reply
alan.campbell99 Well, you can't drink tokens. I still don't fully grasp the idea of putting massive heat-producing facilities that need to be cooled, in such hot arid localities. It's more absurd when it's facilities for your emails to get summarised for you, weird images generation and so Jensen can sell more chips in order for number to go up. Reply
hotaru251 alan.campbell99 said: I still don't fully grasp the idea of putting massive heat-producing facilities that need to be cooled, in such hot arid localities. remote areas with large land. Thats entire reason they go to em as there is less pushback Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/most-new-us-ai-data-centers-are-going-up-on-drought-land#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription
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