11 US Data Center Campuses Could Outpollute Entire Countries
Air permit documents reveal massive gas projects tied to AI data centers may emit 129M+ tons of greenhouse gases annually.
Just 11 data center campuses in the US could pump out more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. That's more than some entire countries produce. The numbers come from air permit documents reviewed by Wired.
The culprit: new natural gas power projects being built specifically to feed these facilities. The campuses are linked to some of the biggest names in tech — OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft among them.
The AI boom's insatiable appetite for compute power is driving a massive buildout of energy infrastructure. And instead of going green, these projects are locking in fossil fuel dependency for years to come.
The permit documents lay bare the environmental cost of the current AI arms race. 129 million-plus tons annually from just 11 sites is a staggering figure that puts Big Tech's climate pledges under serious scrutiny.