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Andy Masley
Independent · Data-center backlash by the numbers
Andy Masley joined Alex Volkov on ThursdAI to put the data-center backlash in perspective with actual numbers. The independent writer and researcher walked through what data centers really use in water and power, and retold how he found the roughly 4,500x water-stat error in Karen Hao's Empire of AI — a liters-versus-cubic-meters mix-up the author has since corrected.
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Chile water
The Empire of AI water number was off by about 4,500x — liters versus cubic meters.
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The 267% electricity spike was one grid node near a closed nuke. Wholesale is not retail.
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The data-center backlash runs on numbers that don't survive contact with a calculator. I joined @altryne on ThursdAI to go through the real ones — water, power, land — and the story of the ~4,500x Empire of AI water error. Full segment:
https://thursdai.news/guests/andymasley/aug-27-2026
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I joined Alex Volkov on ThursdAI this week to talk about the data-center backlash — by the numbers.
We went through what data centers actually use in water and power, why the loudest statistics in this debate tend to be off by orders of magnitude, and the story of the roughly 4,500x water error I found in Empire of AI (a liters vs. cubic meters mix-up the author has since corrected).
Full segment and clips: https://thursdai.news/guests/andymasley/aug-27-2026
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