…but the water usage is not that bad/improving
Last Updated on August 12, 2026 by o
The argument from AI Bros is that the first result on Google, which is one of the major companies invested in AI: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/top-list/top-10-ai-companies-leading-the-us-market-in-2026 is correct about AI using less water and improving.
This is the major argument that AI isn’t bad since most of the focus is on AI using a ton of water since the MIT reports. In fact Google, will float MIT reports to say it’s getting better to block the other report which is now down to page 4.
Meanwhile, AI companies are actively lobbying to hide their water usage from Data centers: Wait, if it’s getting better, why do you need to hide the numbers?
At the same time, if you do crunch the numbers on the so-called “water-efficient AI Data Centers” you find out the math isn’t mathing. And because I don’t like to BS without information, here is an expert to explain it to you, so you can do the math yourself:
Here is an additional article that breaks it down by company: https://techjournal.org/does-ai-use-water-data-centers
Why can’t they use salt water?
Salt water and electronics don’t mix. In addition, water “out there” often has other components to it.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3467640
https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-in-your-water
So if they aren’t ashamed about the usage and it’s gone down, then why do they need the municipal water supply?
Pretty simple: They need it because water treatment plants remove some of those pesky levels of other metals and so on that might interfere with the electronics that they can’t draw from streams or natural bodies of water without making their own water treatment plants, which is then extra cost on top for them.
The simple comeback to an AI Bro:
Release the numbers of water usage rather than lobbying against transparency.
Despite this, there are other additional environmental concerns that gets less press besides electricity and water usage. The release of methane gas. That’s covered in other articles on this website.