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The Claim

A study published in the journal Patterns estimated that the AI industry consumed between 312 billion and 764 billion liters of water in 2025.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Reliable primary and secondary sources indicate that a Patterns study estimated AI’s 2025 water footprint at roughly 312.5 to 764.6 billion liters. The attribution and range are substantially correct. The main caveat is that this is a modeled estimate with uncertainty, not a directly measured industry-wide total, and the study’s scope is somewhat narrower than the phrase “AI industry” suggests.

Caveats

  • The figures are modeled estimates, not audited or directly metered water consumption across the entire AI sector.
  • The wording "consumed" is slightly stronger than the study’s more conditional framing of what AI water use could have been in 2025.
  • "AI industry" may overstate the study’s scope, which is closer to AI systems and related data-center impacts.

The Receipts

  1. The carbon and water footprints of data centers and what this could ...

    PubMed

  2. AI's hidden carbon and water footprint

    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  3. AI boom has caused same CO2 emissions in 2025 as New York City, report claims

    The Guardian

  4. The Nuclear Renaissance

    Business20Channel.tv

  5. Alex de Vries-Gao's Post

    LinkedIn

  6. AI Data Centers and the Water Use Feedback Loop

    arXiv

  7. Post summarizing Patterns journal research by Alex de Vries-Gao

    Facebook (OrbitalInsights page)

  8. AI Water Use In 2025 Rivaled Global Bottled Water Demand

    Profolus

  9. AI Has a Larger Carbon Footprint than NYC, Uses More Water than Bottled Water Industry

    Leaf&Core

  10. In 2025, a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Patterns ...

    Instagram

+ 2 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Patterns

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