No, they can F off with 95% of AI usage. Now back to our regularly scheduled Longhorn thread.
Central Texas data centers consume millions of gallons of water daily, according to an Austin Chronicle investigation published last week. Midsized data centers use approximately 300,000 gallons daily while large data centers can use as many as 4.5 million gallons per day, the Chronicle reports. Austin alone has 47 data centers while Dallas-Fort Worth has the most in the state at 189 facilities.
A report by the Houston Advanced Research Center estimates data centers statewide will use 49 billion gallons of water this year. The facilities use the water to cool their powerful computers, which generate significant heat.
Further exacerbating the strain on natural resources, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman broke ground last year on Abilene’s Stargate Texas data center, a $500 billion project announced by President Donald Trump in January.
With a size 60 acres larger than Central Park, Stargate is soon to be the largest data center in the world, whether the parched landscape — or its electrical grid — can handle it or not. The facility is expected to use enough energy to power 750,000 homes, the Chronicle reports, while also being a massive drain on the water supply.