… [D]ata centers’ everyday utility has been lost in a haze of anxiety about new proposals. … In 2024, The Washington Post released a report claiming that a 100-word email written by ChatGPT consumes an entire bottle of water or 519 milliliters. … When Andy Masley, a former physics teacher turned writer, saw this report, it didn’t sit well with him. So he started looking into the article’s methodology, then reached out to the researcher tapped for the calculation, Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside. … In a conversation with the Deseret News, Ren said the Washington Post’s report should not be considered an accurate measure of today’s artificial intelligence water demands. … “[I]t’s just never correct to say, ‘AI uses this much water,’” Ren said.

Other data center water use news:

• Herald/Review (Sierra Vista, Ariz.): Opinion: Data centers aren’t draining the Mountain West
• Axios: Blog: Nvidia says AI’s water challenge is largely solved