AI Data Centers Use Little Water Overall
If you hang out in any even vaguely AI-skeptical parts of the Internet, you've probably stumbled on plenty of memes and posts premised on data centers' insatiable thirst for water to power evaporative cooling. But a new report from Amazon highlights just how little water all these AI data centers are using in aggregate, on a relative basis, even as individual data centers can strain local water supplies. In a Thursday blog post , Amazon claims its data centers withdrew "about
A new report from Amazon suggests that the total water consumption by AI data centers is relatively small on a global scale, despite concerns about their high water usage for cooling. Amazon reported its data centers withdrew approximately 2.5 billion gallons globally in 2025. This figure, while substantial, is a tiny fraction of the 117 trillion gallons withdrawn in the US in 2015. Comparisons to water usage for lawns, landscaping, almond orchards, and golf courses in the US further contextualize this number. Other major tech companies also report significant water withdrawals; Google used over 6.1 billion gallons in 2024, Microsoft 2.75 billion gallons, and Meta 1.4 billion gallons in the same year. While individual data centers can strain local resources, their aggregate impact is presented as minimal.
This report offers a counter-perspective on the environmental impact of AI, specifically addressing concerns about water usage by data centers.
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