AI Data Centers Use More Water Than Big Tech Discloses – WSJ

A Wall Street Journal investigation indicates that the water consumption of AI data centers may be significantly higher than the figures reported by major technology companies. The discrepancy arises from how each company accounts for water use.

According to the report, Meta is the only firm among the four that discloses both direct and indirect water usage. In contrast, Microsoft, Google (Alphabet), and Amazon mostly limit their reporting to water consumed directly within data center operations, omitting indirect water tied to energy generation. This gap could lead to a substantial underreporting of the true water footprint of AI infrastructure.

The findings highlight growing environmental concerns around the rapid expansion of AI computing capacity and raise questions about the adequacy of current corporate sustainability disclosures.