Exposing The Dark Side of America's AI Data Center Explosion
Details
Join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss a 31-minute video from September 2025.
The explosion of AI, artificial intelligence, across every industry has seen hundreds of water- and power-hungry server farms sprout up across the US. Already, one-third of the world's internet traffic flows through data centers in just one US state: Virginia.
However, until now, there has been no official record of the number of data centers in America, who owns them, or how much electricity they consume.
In an exclusive deep dive into the industry, Business Insider reporters cracked the code and, for the first time, revealed the true cost of the data warehouses feeding our growing appetite for cloud computing and AI. We travelled to Virginia to meet people living in the shadow of 80-foot-high boxes that emit a constant drone, and to the drought-ridden state of Arizona, where some data centers are using as much as a million gallons of water a day to help cool their computer servers.
Business Insider also discovered that the power needs of data centers have forced some states to withdraw from their carbon emissions targets. Power companies are even looking to extend the life of coal and gas plants to help meet the unprecedented demand.
BUSINESS INSIDER is a New York-based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. It publishes original reporting and aggregates material from other outlets. The outlet has been nominated for several awards, but has also been criticized for using factually incorrect clickbate headlines to attract viewership.
Ironically, In 2023, Business Insider shifted its organizational model, adding multiple AI products in 2024, and reducing its staff by nearly 40% between April 2023 and May 2025.
The image illustrates the future Microsoft data center, north of State Route 237, between Zanker Road and Coyote Creek.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/08/05/pge-microsoft-san-jose-tech-economy-power-energy-electric-build-ai-jobs/
You can watch this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8TDOFqkQA.
----------
Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists in the Sequoia Room of the Los Altos Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.
----------
Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, go to:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81653890712?pwd=QzN4MTVNbGEwQ0Zua3d1VG9tVE50UT09
No password is needed -- our host will admit you from the waiting room.
Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it's not already installed), and then take you to the meeting.
You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634
Join the meeting by phone. +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Find an international phone number to call here:
https://zoom.us/u/afYkAuvE6
***
Subscribe to our events in your Apple Calendar:
[webcal://p162-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/Mjk3Nzk1MTgyMjk3Nzk1MRBa7aU6zKSIJMfDjhqBP8r3muvKK3GLLCRnZoCneHpXv08CyGJAJRVI5yyh-SVWxGJE9xHfdUs72pmiBNlOBpY]()
Add this event to your Google calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=M29pZ3N1MmFwc2dnbGFxMnJvNm43bjZ0aDkgaHVtYW5pc3Rjb21tc3ZAbQ&tmsrc=humanistcommsv%40gmail.com
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/311628318/
Click the Interested button or share on Patch: https://patch.com/california/paloalto/calendar/event/20251026/28ee4c08-31d8-43f1-9404-fea83e8626d1/exposing-the-dark-side-of-americas-ai-data-center-explosion
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter: https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1980502890461675620
Humanist Community website: http://www.humanists.org/
Videos of previous forums: https://vimeo.com/hcsv/
To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member ([http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/)](http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/)) of the Humanist Community.
***
If you would like to speak at a Humanist Forum, or know someone who would, or there is a topic you think we should discuss, please let us know by emailing [vp@humanists.org](mailto:vp@humanists.org) or [havasy@live.com](mailto:havasy@live.com).