Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Oliver Milman with data visuals by Andrew Witherspoon

Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land

a gravel road and inside a data center
A gravel road stretches through the area where the Stratos Project, a proposed data center, will be built in Box Elder County near Snowville, Utah. The planned construction spans about 40,000 acres and could use up to 9 gigawatts of power. Composite: Natalie Behring/Oselote/Getty Images

A record-shattering drought has racked much of the US. But the artificial intelligence industry is pushing ahead regardless, with the majority of planned datacenters set to be built in drought-ridden locations, a Guardian analysis has found.

About two-thirds of upcoming datacenters, which typically require a large amount of water to operate, are set to be built in places that have been among the driest in the country over the past year.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.