A ‘thirsty’ AI boom could deepen Big Tech’s water crisis

Big Tech has long had a water problem - but a global artificial intelligence boom is threatening to make matters worse.
U.S. tech giants, some of which have already warned that a business-as-usual approach won’t be able to protect freshwater resources for future generations, have recently reported a huge spike in water consumption.
One of the main culprits of this alarming trend is the insatiable demand for the next wave of AI.
And since global demand for this juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down, what are tech companies doing to reconcile this problem? Why does it matter? And what can policymakers gathering in the middle of the desert do to reduce Big Tech’s water footprint?
#CNBC #AI #WaterCrisis #ArtificialIntelligence #BigTech
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[@Sjalabais]

Aren't the smart alternatives obvious? Politically and geologically stable, water rich and cold places like Canada and Norway should be perfect for new data centres. These countries have excellent infrastructure, too. Build cities on top of these data centres to use the excessive heat smartly, too. The amount of energy spent for heating alone in Northern areas is insane. By heating sand batteries, like in Finland, excessive summer heat can also be harvested again in winter. We have solutions, but are we willing to prioritize spending more money to burning down our habitat?

[@cryingwater]

Latency. You can't have all the data centers up north where there are less people

[@LaureshaCloud]

I had never thought of the connection between AI and the water crisis before. This video really opened my eyes.

[@sownheard]

Opened your eyes to what that water cooling is new ? 😂 This has been going on for at least a decade and the water just gets recycled ♻️ The PCs are not drinking it 😂

[@AlteredCarbon326]

me too

[@koumorichinpo4326]

don't listen to@@sownheard

[@aronm5329]

​​@@sownheardTechnically all water is recycled. What's your point? This is still 5.6 billion tied up in data centers, just from google and this is the beginning. I work in the tech field and this along with energy consumption is something that must be addressed

[@sooraj1104]

It is not drinking water. Its using that for cooling. How it affects local source.

[@probablynothing5465]

nothing quite like flying to the desert in a private jet to tell us how AI is using too much water and we need to cutback 😂😂

[@xynyde0]

how do you know a pvt jet was used?

[@Avatar_2025]

Water is recycled. It can be in closed loop and heat exchange used. I think when talking about water, one should not forget recycling. Besides, water is not lost space.

[@ajith3436]

what about using Ocean water and mitigate corrosion risks by changing parts frequently?

[@scottmac]

Am I the only one who spent the entire video asking “Where does the water go???” Surely the data centers aren’t drinking it…

[@xynyde0]

it gradually evaporates...

[@scottmac]

@@xynyde0what??? 😂

[@juandoe2696]

Thanks to the central planning from Washington DC, Big Tech plans on moving to Arizona to make chips thanks to the Chips Act... I am sure it be all go swimmingly, what could go wrong?

[@indarvishnoi2389]

So they can not reuse it? Like how long doesn't it take to cool the used water? A night?

[@bvssrsguntur6338]

This requires billion views not16K

[@marcbright6758]

We need new meta materials that have better cooling properties. The materials we have today will not do in the world of tomorrow. If we can keep bucking the trend we can reach a sort of zero point breakthrough in cooling 👁️

[@mclovelacenoether]

Why don’t they build these data centers at higher elevations???

[@saulgoodman2018]

What does this have to do with water? They are not replacing the water all the time. They put the water in there 1 time. They are not always changing it.

[@harrydent8182]

It's CNBC.. What did you expect?

[@jtgd]

It still consumes water

[@alekxs2k551]

Datacenters use water differently from consumer water-cooled computers. They use cooling towers that evaporate water. If you actually watched the video you would know this.

[@unknOwN-nv9nu]

Yeah water that stays there and isn’t allowed to go through the water precipitation cycle.

[@unknOwN-nv9nu]

@@KSmifune I did. Don’t care leave my water alone bro I get very thirsty

[@taro7145]

Just build all of them in north Canada

[@sownheard]

⭕When you purposely forget to say that tech companies dont need clean drinking water. And the water can be recycled ♻️

[@xynyde0]

you need freshwater.... saltwater from seas cannot cut it, due to the risks of corrosion

[@_SJ]

I apologize for my dumb question but I can't help wondering if they can use sea water to cool data centers?

[@AndreaZzzXXX]

yes they can, they put a container full of server under the sea for two years (more or less) and it works. There are many issues: the cost, difficult to mantaint, lots and lots of containers could increase the sea temperature near the plant. It's difficult but it can be done, idk in large scale edit: search Microsoft Project Natick for more info

[@Chris-he3lb]

China is currently constructing a datacenter beneath the water.

[@Ironpancakemoose]

SALT would corrode everything

[@_SJ]

@@Ironpancakemoose Thank you. I'm so dumb for asking it actually

[@hemantjain2387]

​@@_SJ Nah, asking what you don't know makes you smarter. It's cool to ask and be open than to make assumptions Stay positive.

[@vishal9676]

AI is not only taking our job, Its taking away our water also.

[@shanecorreia]

Does the water have to be freshwater? We have a ton of cold saltwater….

[@sooraj1104]

Won't the salt corrode everything it touches.

[@shanecorreia]

@@sooraj1104 I think that there are materials that could be used such as stainless steel or plastic that would allow the transference of heat into the cold salt water. I’d be curious to talk to someone smarter than me on the topic and ask what might be possible

[@martinfiedler4317]

@@shanecorreia Plastic is rarely conductive enough to support in cooling. And "stainless steel" is corroded by salt water. I guess, near the coast it would possible to construct mechanisms that transfer the heat of the data center indirectly into the ocean. But to which degree this additional infrastructure would be economically viable seems doubtful to me.

[@srx1821]

Move this machines to polar regions

[@blablablblablabaalba]

Microsoft uses ChatGPT and is not currently a competitor..

[@joshs3916]

Thanks for the video. Wasn’t something I was aware of

[@everythingpony]

Isnt the water being reused those?

[@xynyde0]

it evaporates gradually...

[@lokesh303101]

It means someone has to increase investments in Waterbased Projects.

[@Daniel-to5jd]

What about solutions based on Vapor Compression Refrigeration systems powered by nuclear energy? That way you wouldn't waste so much water.

[@Charvak-Atheist]

Build Data centers in Antarctica.

[@aiden6056]

Your acting like the water disappears when they use it for the cooling process, It just turns into its gas form. The water is still there, matter cannot be created or destroyed.

[@unknOwN-nv9nu]

Huh? That’s crazy but I love water and I’m real. A.I isn’t. Leave my water alone.

[@sownheard]

😂 this makes zero sense it's not like the water gets polluted. It's just getting redirected to cool a data center

[@unknOwN-nv9nu]

@@sownheard 😂 what we should be more concerned about is foreigners buying land and using our water to ship it back to their countries cause they ran out now that’s what I’m actually concerned about.

[@sownheard]

@@unknOwN-nv9nu That is a more valid concern, something that would also help is if you combine data centers with water treatment centers, in a way where the water gets treated and servers get cooled. and waste gets filterd

[@Chris-he3lb]

Interesting.

[@amanieux]

i don't undestand, heating up water does not make it improper for human water use

[@xynyde0]

but you're still using lots of fresh water... and it won't go back to the natural source so that it can be used for consumption...

[@pcodes]

Why not use the ocean water for cooling? I know it do have a high salt percentage which will increase the maintenance cost and will reduce the life of the equipments but other than that it seems like they're not willing to do it just because they can get away by using the non-ocean water bodies which is cheaper for them but not for the ecosystem.

[@briancoreas1147]

Things We Learn Everyday 😳

[@engvoice]

VOCABULARY FROM VIDEO: Kudos to CNBC International for this insightful video. It highlights the substantial water footprint of big Tech's AI, raising awareness about the environmental impact. VOCABULARY: 0. Water Footprint (noun phrase) 01:01 -Context: 'Little-known details like this help shine a light on big Tech's water footprint.' -Explanation: Water footprint refers to the total volume of freshwater used, directly and indirectly, to support a particular activity or produce goods. 1. Environmental Sustainability (noun phrase) 01:49 -Context: 'Microsoft disclosed in its latest environmental sustainability report.' -Explanation: Environmental sustainability involves practices that preserve and protect the natural environment, ensuring resources are used in a way that meets present and future needs. 2. Water Scarcity (noun phrase) 02:58 -Context: 'Water scarcity is a big problem on every continent, exacerbated by the climate crisis.' -Explanation: Water scarcity refers to the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. 3. Regulators (noun) 05:19 -Context: 'Regulators may need to become more heavy-handed in terms of asking companies to disclose water usage.' -Explanation: Regulators are government bodies responsible for controlling and supervising specific activities, ensuring compliance with established rules and standards. 4. Water Withdrawal (noun phrase) 06:05 -Context: 'Global AI demand could be accountable for up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal by 2027.' -Explanation: Water withdrawal is the total amount of water removed from a water source, often for human use or industrial processes. 5. Generative AI (noun phrase) 07:34 -Context: 'Avoid using generative AI because those are generally more resource-consuming compared to a simple search.' -Explanation: Generative AI refers to AI systems that create new content, such as text, images, or music, based on patterns learned from existing data. I posted more learning listening video on my youtube too!❤❤❤

[@masih9595]

What has water got to do with AI?

[@sownheard]

😂 it's just a scare made by people that don't understand datacenter cooling

[@koumorichinpo4326]

they need water to cool down the components AI relies on, they've always done this at their data centers but the recent false boom of AI is making them way more wasteful so big tech can cash in on a hype bubble

[@xynyde0]

did you watch the video??

[@mack-uv6gn]

More of the same. We’re fucked🤦🏻‍♂️

[@yapayzeka930]

Water never will be disappeared because somwhere water usage is much more. Not to worry.

[@CatOnTheCouch]

How about we ask AI for solutions, oh wait a second. Distributed computing is one solution, it might mitigate the water issue but not the energy use problem.

[@imacuser101]

This is too doom gloom. The water isn’t gone for forever if it’s used for cooling it will either evaporate or it will be circulated. Meaning sewage system, recollected, cleaned and distributed. Why didn’t you talk about some of the positive projects going on? Seems like you didn’t want to spend the time there. Microsoft placed a small batch of servers in the ocean to test passive cooling via ocean currents. With more 50% of the world’s population living near a coast, it could be a great way to tackle the land use issue and any energy costs for cooling. This also works well because it could increase their margins on their products. This AI will help cure cancer and we are worried about the water consumption like it disappears, seems like a weird problem to focus on right now.

[@koumorichinpo4326]

they use cooling towers at data centers where the water does evaporate. a text regurgitator is not going to cure cancer, you and don't understand how they work if you think otherwise. chatgpt doesn't actually understand anything it spits out.

[@ngocquynhnhuhuynh3227]

😂

[@user-zp2dl4xm2u]

สวัสดีครับ

[@s_u_n_j_a_y]

🥰

[@cherno451]

First to comment

[@angelachanelhuang1651]

We need Trump

[@twizerejulienne2731]

False 100% 👎👎👎👎👎👎

[@xynyde0]

how??

[@ahernandez50]

What about the massive positive impact that technology in general has. When thanks to tech we don't need to write on paper anymore, or commute to work, or simply reduce countless procedures to a few clicks (banking, for example). This seems like an emotional piece trying to outrage viewers, without providing a real context of the massive positive environmental aspects of tech.

[@DickSlammer]

bro i thought it was about ai girlfriends