Data centers powering AI boom create conflicts over environmental impacts
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Data centers that power AI and the internet are growing rapidly, consuming massive amounts of energy and other resources like land and water. This is creating conflicts in communities where new data centers are being built.
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The AI models that power chatbots and generative AI have especially high energy demands, using GPUs and TPUs that require even more electricity than traditional servers.
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Data centers are spreading geographically to places with cheaper land and cleaner energy sources, but this exposes more communities to their potential downsides like noise and water usage.
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Companies tout data centers' economic benefits but keep their environmental impacts opaque, fighting information requests around resources used and providing few local jobs after construction finishes.
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Experts say more transparency from tech companies is needed, along with questioning if powerful AI models are necessary for every task, but stopping data center growth altogether risks falling behind digitally.