When people find out I’m a journalist who covers AI, they often ask about the drastic energy consumption of AI data centers. Are these centers using up all of our drinking water? … Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, recently faced criticism after calling some of these concerns, particularly those around water, “totally fake.” … OpenAI said in a January announcement that it is “prioritizing closed-loop or low-water cooling systems” to minimize water use. This does lend credence to Altman’s recent claims that OpenAI’s water use is not as high as the 17 gallons per query estimate, but we don’t yet have exact figures for OpenAI’s 2025 water use. 

Other data center water use news:

• San Francisco Chronicle: Opinion: Yes, data centers use California’s limited water, but not as much as you might believe
• Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah): When data centers meet farm country