Technology · 2026-10-22 · Afternoon briefing

AI's thirst for water sparks backlash in South America

The vast water consumption required to cool data centres and train artificial-intelligence models is generating organised local opposition. A single hyperscale data centre can use between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily, comparable to a city of up to 50,000 people. A University of California paper from 2023 estimated that training the initial version of ChatGPT alone required 185,000 gallons.

Resistance has been particularly strong in drought-stricken Chile. In Cerrillos, a community near Santiago, a proposed Google data centre was projected to consume 169 litres of water per second—as much in one day as the town's 80,000 residents use for drinking in an entire year. Following a community campaign, a 2019 local referendum saw 49% of voters reject the project, against 38% in favour.

Similar conflicts are emerging elsewhere. In Uruguay, Google is planning a facility near Montevideo, a city which recently declared a state of emergency during the country's worst drought in 70 years. Researchers there note that while most water is used by agro-industries like soya and rice, tech firms are now becoming another major industrial competitor for the scarce resource.

Summary written by Cup of News with AI from the sources below. Check the originals for the full story.

Read the sources

• Forget power: The unquenchable AI thirst propelling water stocks up to 45%
• Can tech giants curb AI data centres’ growing thirst for water?
• Big Tech’s thirst for water is sparking a global resistance
• Sam Altman Downplays ChatGPT's Water Thirst With an Almond Claim That Overstates the Real Gap Threefold
• Waste tsunami. Water and the hidden cost of AI data centres

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