Google’s New Texas Data Center

Google is building an additional data center in Texas that will rely on "advanced air‑cooling technology" to limit water consumption. According to the company, water use at the facility will be restricted to "critical campus operations" such as kitchen facilities.

Financial Commitment and Energy Plans

The development follows a previously announced two‑year investment of $40 billion that Google has pledged to the Lone Star State. In conjunction with the new data center, Google is touting an arrangement that provides about 7,800 megawatts of net energy generation and capacity, secured through contracts with utility providers to augment the Texas power grid.

Community and Environmental Context

These resource‑conscious commitments come at a time when communities across the United States are expressing resistance to data‑center construction. Critics cite concerns that such facilities can raise electricity costs, exacerbate global greenhouse‑gas emissions, and consume large volumes of fresh water.

Industry Reactions

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has downplayed the water‑use concerns, describing them as "fake" and noting that "it also takes a lot of energy to train a human." Conversely, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other tech leaders have suggested that building data centers in space could mitigate many of the environmental issues associated with terrestrial sites. Some experts, however, warn that the environmental downside of such approaches could be severe.

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