Researchers raise concerns about overlooked side effect of AI boom: ‘Big Tech exploitation’

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers built by big tech companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon is having a huge environmental impact. However, according to the Mongabay report, some regions are feeling the impact more than others.

what’s going on

Mongabe explained that AI data centers are much larger and more resource-intensive than their current predecessors. To keep up with the AI ​​boom, each facility contains thousands of servers, miles of cabling, and massive computing loads.

“An AI campus can be bigger than a small town,” Mongabe reported.

The energy demands of these tasks are staggering. Global data center electricity use is expected to hit about 536 terawatt-hours this year, per the outlet. That’s about 2% of the world’s total energy consumption. As AI workloads increase, this number could double by 2030.

All that power produces intense heat, forcing the centers to rely on extensive cooling systems — many of which rely on fresh water. By 2027, AI centers will require 6.4 trillion liters of water annually. That’s the equivalent of about 2.8 million Olympic-sized pools.

On top of energy and water stress, data centers consume large amounts of raw materials. Copper is especially important for wires and other key components. Mongabe said that as much copper as has been mined in history will need to be mined in the next 25 years to meet demand. Meanwhile, servers and components are replaced quickly, generating significant e-waste. Less than 25% of global e-waste is properly recycled, much of which poses long-term pollution risks.

However, not all of these taxing developments are happening in rich countries where AI is most widely used. Instead, low-income countries in the Global South are being overrun with large data centers because they offer cheap land and labor, weak environmental regulations, and abundant natural resources that Big Tech can tap with limited oversight.

Critics argue that this rapid AI expansion is “extractive colonialism,” in which wealthy northern tech companies deploy resource-intensive infrastructure in poorer regions of the Global South. This often happens with little regard for the water, energy, or environmental needs of local communities.

“This kind of big-tech exploitation … seen in tobacco, cotton, coffee and sugar plantations seems to echo older forms of colonialism that once fed the tastes and addictions of the Global North,” Mongabay reported.

Why is this important?

Simply put, AI users are often removed from the environmental and human toll of growing technology. Creating a more sustainable — and more accountable — future for the sector requires understanding the true impact of AI.

“We really need to talk about what is an appropriate level of technological progress,” Brian Bickskull, global coordinator of the SIRGE Alliance, told Mongabay.

Internet users are rapidly adopting AI for everything from simple entertainment to professional work—and that boom is fueling the growth of energy- and resource-intensive data centers. While these facilities burn large amounts of resources, critics warn that their growing footprint could undermine global efforts to reduce carbon pollution.

As global temperatures increase due to climate change, many low-income tropical regions are experiencing water insecurity due to drought. As data centers enter the picture, some communities — like residents of Mexico’s Querétaro state — worry that their already depleted resources will go to cooling data centers instead of supporting local communities.

“Water is what people need, not these industries,” Queretaro campaigner Teresa Roldan told the BBC.

AI data centers are also driving more demand for dirty energy sources like oil and coal, complicating global climate goals and slowing the transition to clean energy. Currently, waste energy sources provide about 60% of data center power. With the rapid expansion of AI adoption, that number could grow to keep up with demand.

What is being done to monitor the expansion of AI?

The short answer: not much – especially on a global scale.

Many countries still lack clear policies on where, how, or how quickly data centers can be expanded. This means Big Tech often makes decisions with little oversight or local input. In many low-income countries, governments welcome these projects as a means of economic growth, despite the environmental trade-offs.

While researchers and nonprofit organizations have begun to track and measure the environmental costs of AI infrastructure, there is still no global standard for reporting energy, water, or material use—and most of the available data comes from voluntary corporate disclosures that have not been independently verified. Typically, this means tech companies self-publishing sustainability reports that may (or may not) be completely transparent.

While some regions now require data center operators to report their energy and water consumption, these efforts are primarily focused on the wealthier northern countries. As Mongabay highlights, the fastest AI growth is happening in the areas with the weakest oversight.

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