"The True Cost of Data Centers identified 1,240 data centers built or approved across the US by the end of 2024 - nearly four times the number from 2010 - and exposed an infrastructure transformation happening almost entirely in secret. By filing public records requests across every US state and winning lawsuits to obtain water consumption data, our team uncovered how these data centers together would consume as much power as entire US states and guzzle enormous amounts of water daily in drought-stricken regions."
"I'm thrilled to share that Business Insider has won the George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting for The True Cost of Data Centers, an investigation that created the most comprehensive national database of data centers and revealed hidden costs of the AI boom. The George Polk Awards, which honor original, resourceful, and thought-provoking investigative work, are widely considered among the most prestigious in journalism."
"Business Insider's investigation included a first-of-its-kind interactive national map displaying all 1,240 data centers for readers to see how close the data center boom is to their own backyards. It also included a documentary video, "Exposing The Dark Side of America's AI Data Center Explosion," which has been watched more than 5 million times. The database has been shared with 23 universities, including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and Columbia, and"
Business Insider won the George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting after building the most comprehensive national database of U.S. data centers. The effort identified 1,240 data centers built or approved across the U.S. by the end of 2024, nearly four times the number from 2010, revealing an infrastructure transformation occurring largely in secret. Public records requests and lawsuits obtained water consumption data showing the centers together would use as much power as entire U.S. states and consume enormous amounts of water daily in drought-stricken regions. The work produced an interactive national map, a documentary viewed over five million times, and a database shared with 23 universities.
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