AI has a water problem. Google thinks it has a fix

Key points

• is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill.
• She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.
• In the face of widespread backlash to the AI data center buildout throughout the US, Google is touting its efforts to minimize the environmental impact by actually increasing water for local communities.
• The company laid out five commitments around water use in a new blog post published Wednesday, including a goal to replenish more water than it uses at its data centers by 2030. Google also said it will invest in local water infrastructure, identify alternative water sources to power its facilities, and be transparent about its water use overall.
• “We’re just one of dozens of players in the space,” Google’s global head of infrastructure and sustainability Ben Townsend told The Verge in an interview.