NVIDIA, Microsoft say AI data centers are less thirsty now
What's the story
Data centers, the backbone of the internet and artificial intelligence (AI), have been facing criticism for their high water and power consumption. However, leading tech companies like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Meta are now claiming improved water-use efficiency or no net water loss. NVIDIA has even claimed that it can nearly eliminate water consumption at some facilities with its new system for designing and managing AI data centers.
Cooling system
NVIDIA's new method employs a closed-loop cooling system
NVIDIA's new method employs a closed-loop cooling system where liquid is directly pumped through the servers, as close to the chips as possible.
This is a major departure from traditional methods that rely on blowing air over heated components.
The innovative approach has been praised by Josh Parker, NVIDIA's head of sustainability, who said "simple fans circulating the air" are often enough for cooling.
Water efficiency
Microsoft and AWS confirm use of similar systems
Microsoft and AWS have also confirmed their use of closed-loop systems, claiming no net water loss.
Despite an overall increase in water consumption between 2022 and 2025, both companies improved their water use efficiency by 25% at Microsoft and 37% at AWS.
However, there is no industry-wide consistency in reporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.
Indirect consumption
Indirect water consumption also needs to be considered
It's important to note that the water consumed directly by a data center is just part of the story.
Water is also used in electricity generation for the data center and in manufacturing its chips and servers.
In the US, this indirect water consumption can be double what a data center uses directly.