Environment
Water, power, emissions and the communities living next to the data centers.
8 stories: 2 about xAI, 1 about Microsoft, 1 about Amazon, 1 about Meta, 1 about OpenAI, 1 about Google.
California ties data center permits to water disclosure and drought plans
From 2027, California data centers must disclose water use to get permits and licenses. From 2028, they must also file drought cutback plans.
Microsoft plants wetlands and prairie at 20-plus data centers as emissions rise 27%
Microsoft says it has restored habitat at more than 20 data center sites while its own figures show emissions up 27% in a year, to 21.1 million metric tons.
Amazon pledges $1 billion to data center towns, says opposition threatens US AI lead
Amazon says it will spend $1 billion over five years in US data center communities as its cloud CEO warns local opposition could cost the US the AI race.
Residents sue xAI over noise from turbines powering its Colossus supercomputer
A federal class action filed September 23 says xAI's gas turbines near Memphis, which the suit says grew to 69, cause round-the-clock noise and vibration.
Meta's Louisiana AI campus could need 10 gas plants. Regulators stopped asking why.
Entergy wants seven more gas plants for Meta's Hyperion data center. Louisiana regulators then reversed an order that Meta back up its demand forecasts.
OpenAI's flagship Stargate site was powered on fast-track permits
Stargate Abilene's gas turbines and diesel generators were approved with minor permits that require no environmental review, public notice or comment.
Google's emissions rose 18% last year as AI pushed its power use up 37%
Google's 2026 environmental report shows target emissions 81% above 2019, the largest jump in electricity use in its history, and a goal it calls "getting harder."
NAACP sues xAI over gas turbines it ran without permits for Colossus 2
The NAACP's Clean Air Act suit says xAI's affiliate ran 27 gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, without permits to power its Memphis supercomputer.