How Much AI Do We Really Need? Data centres are devouring energy, water and land (protest)

Protesters march through San Francisco outside OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind offices, July 2026.
Photo: missionlocal/Thomas Hunter II

We all know that AI is rapidly becoming one of the biggest technology competitions globally. Governments are investing billions of dollars in AI, while big tech companies are building huge data centres to meet the growing demand for AI services.

Lately, this momentum has led to a series of new protests. Many people organised a march in San Francisco to the offices of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind to tell the companies to slow down development. In London, PauseAI had its largest protest. In July 2026 alone, the opposition held more than 140 protests in 42 U.S. states about new AI data centers. Many communities have expressed similar concerns globally about energy, water, land and noise.

Residents protest against new AI data centres during the nationwide day of action, 18 July 2026.
Photo: Business Insider

The benefits of AI are real; it can help doctors, accelerate scientific research, and even make daily work tasks easier. But the impetus to throw AI into nearly every product/service begs a larger concern: How much AI do we really need?
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems may appear to exist only in the virtual realm, but the fact is they depend upon a physical and material supply chain. Data centres need to consume a lot of electricity simply to be able to operate their servers as well as to cool off their servers. An increase in energy consumption of data centres has been predicted by the International Energy Agency as a result of the rise of AI technology.

People take part in a nationwide protest against AI data centres in Atlanta, Georgia, 18 July 2026.
Photo: Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage

As the fast fashion industry led us to ponder over the need to buy new clothes all the time and as consumer electronics products made us question the need for continuous upgrades, the advent of artificial intelligence is challenging us with a more serious variation of the question. The course that the future of artificial intelligence takes will not be determined solely by the capabilities of newer, more advanced forms of AI but will also rely on the efficient, responsible, and necessary use of technology.

Maybe the more relevant question today has shifted from "What can AI actually do?" to "What do we need AI for?"

References:

Protests
San Francisco Chronicle: “ S.F. protesters march on OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind” (11 July 2026)

Reuters: “Data center opponents stage 142 protest across 42 US states” (18 July 2026)
MIT Technology Review: London PauseAI protest (28 February 2026)

Energy & data centres
International Energy Agency: Energy and AI report

Business Insider: Nationwide data-centre protest photos (18 July 2026)