India, June 12 -- AI companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Microsoft AI, Anthropic, and xAI are consuming billions of gallons of water per year. Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to use so much water by 2030 that the amount could match the basic yearly water needs of 1.3 billion people, as per a new report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). The report says people often focus only on AI's carbon emissions, but AI also has a huge impact on water resources.

Data centers that power AI require huge amounts of water to cool servers and support their operations. Lead author Miriam Aczel said in an UNU-INWEH press release cited by TIME report, researchers were surprised that some en...