Exposing The Dark Side of America’s AI Data Center Explosion

Future Microsoft data center, north of State Route 237

11 a.m., October 26, 2025

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

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