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Sam Altman is dismissing AI data center water worries as a baseless "meme"

Altman says a modern large data center uses roughly as much water as an office building, but experts say public data is too limited to verify the claim

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is calling public concern over AI data center water consumption a "meme" that has no basis in fact. Speaking on the premiere episode of the Sources podcast with host Alex Heath, released Tuesday, Altman said water worries around AI don't hold "up to any scrutiny," according to Business Insider.

Altman pushed back on the characterization of data centers as outsized water consumers, contending that a modern large facility consumes no more water than a typical office building. "That has been a robust meme and difficult to........

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