As demand for artificial intelligence technology boosts construction and proposed construction of data centers around the world, those computers require not just electricity and land, but also a significant amount of water. Data centers use water directly, with cooling water pumped through pipes in and around the computer equipment. They also use water indirectly, through the water required to produce the electricity to power the facility. The amount of water used to produce electricity increases dramatically when the source is fossil fuels compared with solar or wind. A 2024 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that in 2023, U.S. data centers consumed 17 billion gallons (64 billion liters) of water directly through cooling, and projects that by 2028, those figures could double - or even quadruple.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas – As a SWAT team closed in, the suspected bomber whose deadly explosives terrorized Austin for three weeks used one of his devices to blow himself up. But police warned that he could have planted more bombs before his death, and they cautioned the city to stay on guard. Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed college dropout, had been tracked down using store surveillance video, cellphone signals and witness accounts of a strange-looking customer making purchases in a disguise that included a blonde wig and gloves. His motive remained a mystery. Police finally found the 23-year-old early Wednesday at a hotel in a suburb north of Austin known as the scene for filming portions of "Friday Night Lights."