Raw LLM Responses

AI needs water. A lot of water – equivalent to all the water used by some smaller countries. That's because as the tech industry has grown, so too have data centres – these huge buildings filled with hundreds of thousands of computers that require vast amounts of electricity, air and sometimes water to stay cool. Because of AI, Google, Microsoft and Meta have all reported higher energy and water consumption year over year. Currently, there are no federal regulations for AI, so some scientists are worried about how that could impact our planet in the future. Here's Benjamin Lee from the University of Pennsylvania. I think before generative AI came along in late 2022, there was hope among these data centre operators that they could go to net zero. I don't see how you can, under current infrastructure investment plans, you could possibly achieve those net zero goals. With major infrastructure projects like Stargate, the Trump administration plans to build another 20 new data centres over the next four years. So until stronger regulations are in place, it's up to tech companies to figure out how to keep their energy and water consumption low, while keeping up with demand for AI innovation. ©NPR