Polaroid Billboard Targets AI Data Centers' Water Use

Polaroid, the 89-year-old camera brand, is taking a new swipe at AI, this time focusing on water usage by large data centers. They put up a billboard on Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, New York, saying, 'Go play in the water before the data centers drink it all.' This is part of their 'Summer is Best in Analog' global campaign.

Patricia Varela, Polaroid's creative director, says the ad is meant to challenge people to rethink their relationship with tech, but the company isn't anti-digital. They're pushing for a human-first approach. The billboard highlights a big debate: how much water do AI data centers really use? Reports say some of the biggest US data centers use more water daily than 49,000 people.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called claims about ChatGPT's water use 'fake news.' Nvidia also just launched a new liquid cooling system to cut water use while letting data centers run hotter. Ali Heidari, Nvidia's data center cooling chief, says they've 'drastically reduced power use and basically eliminated water use.'