Last month, journalists Karen Hao posted in a Twitter thread admitting that there were major mistakes in her blockbuster book. Empire of AI. Hao wrote that Google's planned data center in a town near Santiago, Chile, could require “more than 1,000 times the amount of water consumed by the entire population,” but that figure appears to be off by a factor of 1,000 thanks to a misunderstanding of units.
In the thread, Hao thanked Andy Masry, head of the Effective Altruism organization in Washington, D.C., for bringing the correction to his attention. Masry has spent the past few months on Substack questioning some of the numbers and rhetoric common in the popular media regarding water use and AI. Masry's main post, titled “The AI Water Problem Is Fake,” has been linked to in recent months by other writers with large followings, including Matt Yglesias and Noah Smith. (Ms. Hao said in a Twitter thread that she would work with the publisher to correct the error, but a spokesperson told me she was on vacation and unable to chat with me about this article.)
When I called him to talk more about AI and water, Masry emphasized that he is not an expert, but “just a guy” who is interested in how the media covers the topic and how it shapes the opinions of those around him.
“I sometimes tell people at parties that I used ChatGPT, and people say, 'Oh, that uses so much energy and water. How do you use it?'” he says. “I was a little surprised that people would be so harsh about just a little bit of water.”
As local and national opposition to data centers grows, so too does concern about their impact on the environment. Earlier this week, more than 230 green groups sent a letter to Congress warning that AI and data centers “threaten Americans' economic, environmental, climate, and water security.”
The AI industry has started fighting back. In November, co-chairs of the AI Infrastructure Coalition, an emerging industry group, wrote an op-ed for Fox News that touched on environmental issues. “Water usage is minimal and frequently recycled – less than most American golf courses,” they wrote. Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, one of the authors of the op-ed, is currently advocating for data center projects in her state, which have drawn local backlash, citing water use concerns and other concerns. The coalition also endorsed and retweeted Masry's post about the impact of AI on energy prices. (Masley maintains an extensive disclaimer on his Substack, refuting claims that he is paid by the industry to share his opinions.)
