U.S. Data Centers Could Consume as Much Water as 10 Million Americans by Decade’s End

When Cornell University systems engineer Fengqi You started modeling the environmental footprint of data centers three years ago, the A.I. boom was just beginning. Even then, You and his colleagues noticed something missing from the conversation.

“When we started this, we saw that A.I. was growing very fast,” You said. “It was clear it would have to be aligned with power-grid planning, with water and other resource planning. There were no discussions about these topics — but we wanted to bring real numbers, rigorous analysis on A.I.’s physical footprints.”