The world’s biggest technology companies have substantially increased their use of water to cool down data centres, sparking concerns over the environmental impact of the generative artificial intelligence boom.
Microsoft, Google and Meta have raised their water consumption over recent years, with millions of users hooked on their online services.
Academics suggest that AI demand would drive up water withdrawal — where water is removed from ground or surface sources — to between 4.2bn and 6.6bn cubic meters by 2027, or about half the amount consumed by the UK each year.
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