New York, May 9 -- About two-thirds of new data centers built or in development since 2022 in the United States are in places already gripped by high levels of water stress -- while these facilities are popping up all over the country, five states alone account for 72 percent of the new centers in high-stress areas, reported Bloomberg News on Thursday.
"Tech giants are racing to expand with new -- and larger -- data centers to support AI, consuming more resources, including water," noted the report. "That only adds to concerns that communities facing water shortages will have to compete with data center operators to access clean water."
The data centers that power artificial intelligence consume immense amounts of water to cool hot serv...