"Tech companies face a fundamental choice with no winning answer for keeping data centers cool."
"Artificial intelligence has a real heat problem.
Cooling next-generation computer chips for AI requires either millions of gallons of water or huge amounts of electricity. Both have ignited sharp opposition from the public.
The industry’s heat trade-off threatens to deepen its unpopularity in communities where concern is growing about the financial and environmental toll of data centers. If a company chooses to save water when cooling a facility, its power needs surge. If it reduces electricity, its water use climbs. One option increases carbon emissions and strains the electric grid; the other depletes a natural resource."
Ariel Wittenberg and Arianna Skibell report for E&E News July 9, 2026.
