Did Jeff Bezos say that human water use is slowing down AI? Here’s what we found

A claim about Jeff Bezos saying that human water use is slowing the growth of AI is circulating on the internet and social media. However, after fact-checking, it was determined that Bezos did not make any controversial statements. The false claim has been attributed to Bezos, and there are reports that he made the statement at the annual Vivatech conference held in Paris a few days ago.

“If we deplete the cooling resources of our data infrastructure just to maintain basic human comfort, we are actively delaying the birth of superintelligence,” the billionaire allegedly said. He adds, “Sometimes we have to prioritize the intelligence that will save us over the biology that will slow us down.”

Mr. Bezos has been accused of making such statements, but the truth is that Mr. Bezos said nothing of the sort. An unedited clip of the event proves the words were mistakenly attributed to Bezos. We watched the livestream of the VivaTech event posted by the Associated Press and did not encounter any controversial language. Other people on the internet made similar posts, saying Bezos made no such remarks. The billionaire talked about his space company, Blue Origin, and industrial AI startup, Prometheus. However, he did not mention water use in data centers.

Separate tests show that the fake news originated from a thread on Reddit, which has now been deleted. Examining the statement about Gemini also reveals that it is false. When asked about the authenticity of this statement, the AI ​​tool said, “This quote is completely fake, but has recently been circulating on platforms such as Reddit, Hacker News, and X (formerly Twitter) wrapped in convincingly fabricated screenshots.”

At the VivaTech conference, Bezos spoke about Blue Origin and its role in establishing a future moon base. He also talked about Prometheus and AI in general. Bezos said AI will cause labor shortages, not fewer jobs. “There will be a workforce shortage because AI will allow people to identify more problems,” Bezos said in a session moderated by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp also attended the event. Bezos went on to say that the only limit to growth is imagination.