Business English News 61 Data Centers.
AI seemed relatively uncontroversial when it was limited to simple functions in your toothbrush or car.
But then, in 2022, ChatGPT made an enormous splash signaling the commercialization of generative AI.
Since then, there's been a rapid proliferation of new tools, and the popularity of these tools has necessitated massive infrastructure to support all this computing power, as Forbes reports.
Data centers are rapidly sprouting across America, with hyperscalers spending billions to build thousands of facilities nationwide.
Rural areas in particular have seen a surge in development as companies seek cheaper land and generous local tax incentives.
Many see the trend as providing an entry point into the growing AI sector for communities outside traditional urban centers, especially those looking for new sources of tax revenue and high-paying jobs.
The promise of jobs may seem irresistible, particularly when there's so much economic uncertainty.
But research in Virginia has shown that data centers created just one job for every 13 million of investment.
That's a pretty weak return for an industry that consumes a shocking amount of energy.
As Pew Research outlines…
U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt hours of electricity in 2024, according to IEA estimates.
That works out to more than 4 of the country's total electricity consumption last year and is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity demand of the entire nation of Pakistan.
A typical AI-focused hyperscaler annually consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households.
The larger ones currently under construction are expected to use 20 times as much.
Energy usage itself is accompanied by environmental impacts.
But with an increasing load on the grid, there are knock-on effects, such as new power plants and transmission line expansion.
Rural electrical grids also tend to be fossil fuel heavy, which is alarming for anyone who cares about climate change.
And the carbon footprint isn't the only concern with this new generation of data centers, as CBS explains.
Aside from their electricity needs, AI data centers also require a great deal of water to cool the hardware.
This can strain municipal water supplies and disrupt local ecosystems, research from MIT shows.
For now, there are no regulations that require corporations to disclose how much energy or water their AI tools consume.
The hyperscalers have so far found enough communities willing to provide breaks to new data centers, but an increasing number of regions see it as a deal with the devil.
As resistance grows, it encompasses both sides of the political divide.
Today, it seems that everyone can find something to hate about data centers, as NPR reports.
Some people don't want huge industrial facilities and all the noise and light pollution that comes with them, changing the character of their community.
But people are also concerned about data centers depleting local water supplies for their cooling systems, driving up electricity bills and worsening climate change if the facilities rely on fossil fuel power plants for the electricity they need.
Faced with such fierce criticism, tech companies are desperate to shore up public opinion.
They've been pouring resources into different ways of reducing the environmental impact.
On the waterfront.
Some data centers have developed evaporative cooling systems, while others rely on closed-loop systems that use less water.
Companies are also enacting various policy changes.
As the World Economic Forum notes, Amazon has matched 100 of its operations' global energy consumption with electricity generated by renewable energy systems.
Microsoft established a supplier code of conduct requiring suppliers to transition to 100 carbon-free electricity by 2030.
And Salesforce announced that it is lobbying for new regulations to compel companies to report AI emissions data and efficiency standards as part of its Sustainable AI Policy initiative.
Critics see much of this as greenwashing at best.
Other people are happy that companies are at least acknowledging the issues.
Either way, it seems, the public conversation is two steps behind the leading edge of technology and industry.
Indeed, many regulators and utilities say that demand growth will continue to outpace any efficiency gains.
This sets the world up for a pretty tough predicament, as Forbes reports.
The energy footprint of AI is no longer niche.
It is becoming a central concern for the power system.
AI's appetite for electricity will compete with increasing needs from industry, homes and transportation.
I think everybody understands the criticality of getting this right, says Jim Robb, CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
But a lot of us are stuck in the way we've done things for the last 20 years, which simply isn't viable for the next 10.
