Nvidia: AI Data Centers Use Less Water
Nvidia argues that AI data centers consume a small share of America's water supply, with data centers accounting for just 0.2% of daily water usage in the US
As concerns grow over artificial intelligence’s environmental impact, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA ) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX ) CEO Elon Musk backed Nvidia Corp’s (NASDAQ: NVDA ) argument that data centers consume a surprisingly small share of America’s water supply. , while arguing that advances in cooling technology are dramatically reducing the industry’s water footprint.
The chipmaker said newer AI facilities are increasingly adopting liquid-cooling systems that can significantly reduce or even eliminate the need for water-intensive cooling towers. Water usage has been a hot topic in the AI data center world, but the numbers may surprise you. S. ” True - Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 22, 2026 According to Nvidia, AI facilities using 45-degree Celsius liquid cooling can rely on dry coolers rather than traditional cooling-tower systems.
6 million gallons per megawatt annually to near zero in favorable climates. Read Also: Nvidia Isn't The Only Potential Winner From SpaceX's $85 Billion IPO Rubin AI Systems Aim To Eliminate Cooling Water Use In a blog post published Sunday, Nvidia said its upcoming Rubin-generation AI infrastructure will be the company’s first platform to use fully liquid-cooled architecture. “The NVIDIA DSX reference design for AI factories has zero water consumption,” said Ali Heydari, Nvidia’s director of data center cooling and infrastructure.
Heydari added that dry-cooler-based systems operate as closed loops with “pretty much all water usage” eliminated except in limited circumstances. Nvidia said the design also reduces energy demand by capturing heat directly at the chip level, avoiding the need to cool large volumes of air. Historically, cooling has represented as much as 40% of a data center’s electricity consumption. Water Emerges As AI’s Next Infrastructure Challenge The discussion comes as investors and policymakers increasingly scrutinize the resources required to support AI expansion.
com, Inc. 5 billion gallons of water in 2025. However, the company said its water usage efficiency was substantially better than industry averages. , with critics citing concerns ranging from water availability and energy demand to noise and infrastructure strain.
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