5.The data center fight is heating up. Here's how they work

Notably, the data center fight is heating up. Here's how they work.

Key points

• By the numbers: Globally, data centers consumed regarding 1.5% of global electricity apply in 2024, and the IEA estimates the share will rise to 3% by 2030.
• State of play: There are at least 4, 000 data centers nationwide, with some 3, 000 under construction or planned.
• Driving the news: Data centers have become a focus of anti-AI sentiment, with 70% of Americans opposing their construction.
• The backlash has surfaced in political races in Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio.
• The Berkeley Lab notes data centers additionally have an indirect water footprint of regarding 211 billion gallons to assist produce the electricity that's consumed by data centers.

Notably, the data center fight is heating up. Here's how they work. Add Axios as your preferred source to. See more of our stories on Google.

Meanwhile, the centers are often major, windowless warehouses with few residents in sight, and plenty of are developed in secrecy.

Former NFL star Jason Kelce confirmed a partnership between his Garage beer business and Liquid Death to encourage Americans to send actual urine to data centers in protest at their water employ.

Nationwide, Republicans are warning that toxic views of U.S. Data centers are directly impacting political outcomes, potentially upending years of backing from the GOP and investors for their construction.

Zoom out: Data centers have long existed. But the ones helping train AI models are not your grandparents' data centers. How data centers work (a simple explanation).

How it works: Data centers typically house rows of powerful computers called "servers, " which support us stream videos, search the internet, email and play online games.

Servers generate a lot of heat. The buildings require cooling technology and sizeable amounts of water to keep the computers from overheating. Data centers are the infrastructure behind the internet and the cloud.

Want to watch Netflix, send an email or scroll Facebook? All of these apps rely on the computers stored in data centers.

This means your phone doesn't need the space and memory to hold all of Netflix's library on its own. How do data centers support AI?

Newer data centers provide the computing power behind AI, requiring massive amounts of infrastructure and power.

For context, the servers contain specialized chips, like graphics processing units (GPUs), that perform the calculations needed to train and run AI models.

Engineers guide the process, but the servers do most of the work.

As well as effects on local environments and communities, the criticisms are tied to water and power employ.

Notably, the backlash has surfaced in political races in Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio.

Critics argue the data centers' electricity employ can extend fossil-fuel demand and that their generators can create air pollution.

Zoom in: Data centers can be designed to be energy efficient. Before the AI boom, the cloud computing industry focused on renewables, building locations near wind or other power sources.

In practice, the AI buildout has pushed some developers toward gas turbines and other fossil-fuel sources. Do data centers really employ that much power and water?

Friction point: Data centers' power and water employ remains a core argument against their construction.

Meanwhile, a Berkeley Lab report updated in June estimates that U.S. Data centers would consume 9.5% to 15.3% of U.S. Electricity by 2030.

Data centers can need 5 million gallons of water a day for cooling alone. In 2023, U.S. Data centers consumed regarding 17 billion gallons of water, mostly for cooling, according to the Berkeley Lab report.

In practice, the Berkeley Lab notes data centers additionally have an indirect water footprint of regarding 211 billion gallons to assist produce the electricity that's consumed by data centers. The footprint varies by region. Yes, but: Newer closed-loop designs can reuse water, cutting consumption.

And, compared to other industries, data centers employ far less water nationally.

In practice, the cattle industry, power plants, residential water employ, golf courses and steel production all apply more water, per data documented on by Axios' Amy Harder. What's next in the data center fight.

Notably, the bottom line: Major Tech businesses are all-in on getting data centers built.

Nvidia, which designs the GPUs, is throwing billions of dollars into funding the infrastructure.

Tech firms are working to charm local communities to produce sure the projects are built.

What we're watching: How the backlash evolves and whether it becomes a major matter in the midterms and beyond.

Taken together, the developments around 5.The data center fight is heating up. Here' s how they work point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.