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- There are over a thousand planned or existing data centers across the US, according to a BI investigation.
- Major tech companies are racing to construct even more as the AI boom continues. But at what cost?
- Satellite images show where these facilities are cropping up and why they’re a nuisance to many.
Build, baby, build. That’s the mantra behind the AI boom sweeping America.
This year, alone, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google are projected to spend about $320 billion in capex, mostly for AI infrastructure, according to an analysis of financial statements by Business Insider.
At the heart of this AI infrastructure growth are data centers that house the specialized hardware and high-speed networking equipment, driving the intensive computations behind large language models. However, AI needs more.
Because AI learns by processing increasingly large amounts of data, improving it requires more computational power, which in turn necessitates more data centers.
A BI investigation found 1,240 data centers across America are already built or approved for construction by the end of 2024.
That’s four times more than in 2010. This is the most comprehensive map of data centers in the US, to date.
BI reporters and editors generated this map by pulling obscure state records, reviewing corporate disclosures, and consulting government researchers, engineering specialists, and researchers who study state and local economic incentive packages.
Watch the documentary below on the dark side of data centers. Keep reading to see satellite images of how data centers are changing the American landscape.
Northern Virginia is one of the most densely populated parts of the DC metro area and the most concentrated area of data centers in the US.
The largest data centers can require as much electricity as a small city and up to several million gallons of water a day. That’s why they often appear in residential areas where these resources are readily available.
While these data centers promise to bring new tax revenue to Virginia residents, BI’s Dakin Campbell reports that some worry about how the centers will affect housing costs, the environment, and their quality of life.
This neighborhood in Prince William County, Virginia, has seen multiple Amazon data centers crop up in its backyard in recent years.
Carlos Yanes lives within 1,200 feet (370 meters) of several Amazon data centers and said he spent almost $20,000 to replace his windows in an attempt to muffle the sound and vibrations from the facilities.
Amazon responded to local complaints by replacing its exhaust fans with taller versions, which did muffle the sound. However, Carlos and his neighbors can still feel the vibrations through their walls, BI’s Robert Leslie reports.
An Amazon spokesperson told BI that it’s “operating well below the ordinance levels that we are required to operate under.”
Another neighborhood in the same county was surrounded by nature for decades.
In 2021, construction on Google’s data centers began near Donna Gallant’s home. By 2025, multiple facilities were operational.
Another plot of land near Gallant’s neighborhood, intended for housing, was rezoned in 2023 to accommodate more data centers. Gallant, along with other locals, challenged the rezoning, but the lawsuit was dismissed in 2024 and again this year.
It’s not just in Virginia. Data centers are appearing across the US.
These data centers in Stanton Springs, Georgia, belong to Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
These data centers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, belong to Microsoft.
Cheyenne is the data center hub of Wyoming. The largest data center in the state, belonging to Microsoft, will use up to 84,725 megawatt-hours a year, according to BI estimates.
Utility customers in at least 41 states are already seeing an increase in their electric and natural gas bills, or can expect to see an increase in 2026. This is due to a variety of factors, including power-hungry data centers, BI’s Ellen Thomas reports.
Microsoft data centers in Goodyear, Arizona, are approved to use up to 3 million gallons of water a day.
Arizona state lawmakers have extended tax incentives to companies through 2033, BI’s Campbell reports, encouraging more construction.
The growing presence of data centers in drought-prone regions of the country, such as Arizona, is raising concerns.
Historically, data centers use ample amounts of water to cool their computer chips.
BI’s investigation found that 40% of the planned or existing data centers are in the nation’s most water-stressed areas.
Microsoft consumed nearly 2.1 billion gallons of water in 2023, a 22% increase from 2022, according to its sustainability report. It has pledged to be water positive by 2030, as has Amazon.
Meta and Google have also made similar pledges.
Meta, with more than a quarter of its built or permitted data centers in high water-stressed areas per BI’s tally, said it will return more water to the environment than it consumes by 2030.
Google pledges to replenish 120% of the water it consumes by 2030.
Read the full article here
