Researchers warn water usage is unnoticed environmental threat of AI data centers

Policymakers have focused on the electricity usage of data centers crucial to artificial intelligence, but a trio of Aspen Institute fellows say the facilities’ water demands pose serious economic and ecological challenges, and that Utah’s Great Salt Lake exemplifies why tech companies should be compelled to reveal more about water usage.

“To help preserve the Great Salt Lake, Utah needs to require that data centers publish water usage data. Regulators currently do not understand how much water is being used...