Artificial Intelligence could consume more water than humans within the next decade.

We often hear about the environmental impact of AI in terms of energy, but few realize that AI also has a massive water footprint — one that’s growing rapidly. Data centers, the heart of AI infrastructure, must be cooled 24/7 to prevent overheating from intensive computing. Every time we generate an image with AI, ask a chatbot a question, or train a large language model, thousands of calculations are performed — and those calculations generate heat. To cool these servers, millions of liters of potable water are used every day.

A 2023 study from the University of California, Riverside estimated that training GPT-3 consumed around 700,000 liters (about 185,000 gallons) of fresh water indirectly through cooling processes in data centers. As AI models grow in size and use becomes widespread, this number is expected to skyrocket.

According to Microsoft’s 2022 sustainability report, the company’s global water consumption increased by 34% in a single year, largely due to AI-related infrastructure. Google also reported a 20% rise in water use, with the majority going toward data center cooling. These figures raise serious concerns about resource prioritization in a warming, water-scarce world.

While many people are still focused on the rising price per square meter in urban real estate markets, some of the world’s largest investment funds have already moved on to what will be the most precious asset of the future: land with access to fresh water.

And where are they buying?

In Brazil.

From the Amazon basin to aquifer-rich farmlands, Brazil holds roughly 12% of the planet's freshwater reserves. Foreign investors and multinational corporations are already securing vast tracts of land not just for agriculture or minerals — but for water.

This is not just a technological or environmental issue. It is geopolitical. It is ethical. It is economic. And it is urgent.

The global race is no longer just for data. It is for water.

🌎💧 Let’s not look away.

References: 

Microsoft. (2023). 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report. https://lnkd.in/dKNuj5Ev

Google. (2022). Google Environmental Report 2022. 

https://lnkd.in/d5YpppnJ

Science Arena. (2023). The Water Footprint of AI Models: Interview with Shaolei Ren. https://lnkd.in/dMNBDmka

Gordon, C. (2024, February 25). AI Is Accelerating The Loss Of Our Scarcest Natural Resource: Water. Forbes. https://lnkd.in/eb9_dycx