Big Tech's thirst for water is sparking a global resistance — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- ChatGPT drew scrutiny after a University of California study estimated in April 2023 that training the model behind its initial version required 185,000 gallons of water; Google and OpenAI later described individual chatbot queries as using “mere drops,” a framing independent researchers said excluded broader power-and-cooling needs.
- Hyperscale data centers can use 1 million to 5 million gallons of water a day, comparable to a city of 10,000 to 50,000 people depending on the region; GPUs for generative AI run harder and produce more heat than traditional server chips, requiring additional cooling.
- Google faced local opposition in Cerrillos after its planned $200 million data center was projected to draw 169 liters of water per second from an aquifer subject to a complete extraction ban; MOSACAT helped put the proposal to a December 2019 referendum.
- Cerrillos voters rejected Google’s project with 49% against and 38% in favor; after community and municipal claims in 2020, Google returned in February 2022 with a proposal to cool the facility exclusively with air-conditioning rather than water.
- Google’s planned 72-acre Canelones data center would use 2 million gallons of water daily for cooling, a figure researcher Daniel Pena obtained in court as neighboring Montevideo entered a state of emergency during Uruguay’s worst drought in 70 years.
- Microsoft announced its Quilicura data center in 2022, the same year strict water-rationing rules took effect in Santiago; activist Vicente Bardales said such facilities use water to “dry up the territory” without giving anything back to residents.
- Caucaia attracted four proposed data centers, including a 12-football-field project estimated at $10 billion for TikTok, in a region that experienced emergency drought conditions in 16 of the 21 years from 2003 to 2024.
Why it matters: For Cerrillos and Quilicura residents, Google’s projected 169 liters per second and Microsoft’s water-rationing-era proposal turn data-center expansion into a direct contest for scarce drinking water. Cerrillos voters already rejected Google’s project, while Quilicura residents organized against Microsoft’s, saying promised local benefits have not matched the resource demands.
Ask SkimNews
