New Delhi, June 23 -- Nvidia has unveiled a new liquid cooling system for its AI servers that the company says eliminates the need for water-hungry air-cooling fans, a development that could significantly reduce the environmental toll of the world's fast-growing data centres.

From contaminated wells to plummeting water pressure, communities living near data centres have borne a quiet but growing cost of the artificial intelligence boom. Heavy water consumption at these facilities has become one of the most pressing concerns for residents and environmentalists alike.

The scale of the problem is significant. The United Nations warned earlier this month that AI-related water consumption could equal the annual needs of 1.3 billion people by...