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Microsoft AI consumes more water than 670 families a year
Local communities compete with tech giants for drinkable water
2 min. read
Published onMarch 21, 2024
published onMarch 21, 2024
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Large language models (LLMs) will requiremore energythan we can generate, and there are other problems. AI consumes large quantities of water daily for the cooling process. After all, according toJez Gorden, the LLMs from Microsoft and OpenAI use a water bottle to cool down after each query. Also, models like ChatGPT have over10 million queries daily.
Small towns like Phoenix, Arizona, cannot handle AI’s demands without help. After all, the AI generates a lot of wastewater. Microsoft’s Goodyear facility will use 56 million gallons of drinking water, which is enough for 670 families yearly.
How much water does AI consume?
AI consumes a lot of water, and the amount is hard to quantify. It uses it in two ways: directly for on-site server cooling and indirectly to cool power plants. The technology is still in its early phase, and every advancement requires more resources. Unfortunately, this could lead todire consequences for the environment. Additionally, according toShaolei Ren, water scarcity is already one of the most important global challenges.
Local communities are at risk, mainly when data centers use their systems to deal with water waste. In addition, cities like Phoenix, Arizona, are alreadyfighting droughts. Some regions even need to share their drinking water with tech giants, which leads to conflicts. In West Des Moines, Iowa, an AI data center clusterconsumed 6%of the district’s water in a monthin 2022.
By 2030, tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Meta plan to replenish more water than they use. On top of that, Microsoft wants to build a few more data centers in Phoenix, and this time, they plan on using air cooling systems. This solution will decrease AI water consumption. However, it will increase the amount used by power plants.
Ultimately, AI consumes more water than companies can replenish. This issue creates tensions between communities and tech giants, and it could lead to significantly higher prices and other water system-related problems.
What are your thoughts? Did you think of any ways to reduce AI water consumption? Let us know in the comments.
More about the topics:ChatGPT,microsoft,OpenAI
Sebastian Filipoiu
Sebastian is a content writer with a desire to learn everything new about AI and gaming. So, he spends his time writing prompts on various LLMs to understand them better. Additionally, Sebastian has experience fixing performance-related problems in video games and knows his way around Windows. Also, he is interested in anything related to quantum technology and becomes a research freak when he wants to learn more.
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Sebastian Filipoiu
Sebastian is a content writer with a desire to learn everything new about AI and gaming.
