Posted 3/2/2024, 12:00:21 PM
Arizona Town's Drinking Water Diverted to Cool Microsoft's AI Data Center
- Microsoft data center in Arizona is using huge amounts of the town's drinking water supply to cool its servers for AI and cloud computing
- Facility is projected to use 56 million gallons annually once fully built - enough for over 600 families' yearly use
- This level of water consumption is concerning given the region's desert climate and drought conditions
- Decision to build water-intensive data center to power AI efforts is criticized as short-sighted by Arizona's Attorney General
- Situation highlights tough tradeoffs between enabling AI progress and environmental impacts