Source: investor.nvidia.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/header>\nLine chart of Nvidia quarterly revenue by market, fiscal years 2018\u20132026, in billions of dollars.<\/title><rect class=\"ff3en0f\" x=\"14\" y=\"34\" width=\"390\" height=\"284\"\/><g><line class=\"ff3en0e\" x1=\"14\" x2=\"404\" y1=\"236.85714285714286\" y2=\"236.85714285714286\"\/><text class=\"ff3en0c\" x=\"24\" y=\"232.85714285714286\" text-anchor=\"start\" aria-hidden=\"true\">$ <!-- -->20<!-- --> B<\/text><\/g><g><line class=\"ff3en0e\" x1=\"14\" x2=\"404\" y1=\"155.71428571428572\" y2=\"155.71428571428572\"\/><text class=\"ff3en0c\" x=\"24\" y=\"151.71428571428572\" text-anchor=\"start\" aria-hidden=\"true\">$ <!-- -->40<!-- --> B<\/text><\/g><g><line class=\"ff3en0e\" x1=\"14\" x2=\"404\" y1=\"74.57142857142858\" y2=\"74.57142857142858\"\/><text class=\"ff3en0c\" x=\"24\" y=\"70.57142857142858\" text-anchor=\"start\" aria-hidden=\"true\">$ <!-- -->60<!-- --> B<\/text><\/g><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"14\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201918<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"62.75\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201919<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"111.5\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201920<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"160.25\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201921<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"209\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201922<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"257.75\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201923<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"306.5\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201924<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"355.25\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201925<\/text><text class=\"ff3en0d\" x=\"404\" y=\"342\" text-anchor=\"middle\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u201926<\/text><polyline class=\"ff3en0h\" points=\"14,308.6482857142857 62.75,311.8088 111.5,309.3298857142857 160.25,305.42285714285714 209,300.2297142857143 257.75,308.1208571428571 306.5,302.99262857142855 355.25,302.78165714285717 404,294.41582857142856\"\/><polyline class=\"ff3en0g\" points=\"14,315.54137142857144 62.75,315.2452 111.5,314.07268571428574 160.25,310.27925714285715 209,304.76154285714284 257.75,303.32937142857145 306.5,243.33234285714286 355.25,173.64685714285716 404,65.1832\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<ul class=\"ff3en08\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<li class=\"ff3en09\"><svg class=\"ff3en0a\" viewbox=\"0 0 36 12\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><line class=\"ff3en0g\" x1=\"2\" y1=\"6\" x2=\"34\" y2=\"6\"\/><\/svg><span>Data centers<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"ff3en09\"><svg class=\"ff3en0a\" viewbox=\"0 0 36 12\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><line class=\"ff3en0h\" x1=\"2\" y1=\"6\" x2=\"34\" y2=\"6\"\/><\/svg><span>Gaming, professional visualization, automotive and robotics, original equipment manufacturing, and intellectual property<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"ff3en0b\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<caption>Nvidia quarterly revenue by market, fiscal years 2018\u20132026, in billions<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\">Year<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Data centers<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Other markets<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<\/tbody>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2018<\/th>\n<td>0.606<\/td>\n<td>2.305<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2019<\/th>\n<td>0.679<\/td>\n<td>1.526<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2020<\/th>\n<td>0.968<\/td>\n<td>2.137<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2021<\/th>\n<td>1.903<\/td>\n<td>3.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2022<\/th>\n<td>3.263<\/td>\n<td>4.38<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2023<\/th>\n<td>3.616<\/td>\n<td>2.435<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2024<\/th>\n<td>18.404<\/td>\n<td>3.699<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2025<\/th>\n<td>35.58<\/td>\n<td>3.751<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">2026<\/th>\n<td>62.314<\/td>\n<td>5.813<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"hitting-close-to-home\" class=\"title-font lgfayh0 _19blzsf0\"><span>Hitting close to home <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"ognb8w0 title-font\">W<\/span>hile<\/span><span class=\"sr-only\">While<\/span><span> GPUs have been around for a long time, AI has thrust them into the spotlight in a way that, quite literally, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/876555\/meta-data-center-winter-power-outages-storm-ice\">hits close<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7308925\/elon-musk-memphis-ai-data-center\/\">to home<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/841169\/ai-data-center-opposition\">for many<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-03-27\/residents-speak-out-against-proposed-data-center-in-imperial-county\">Americans<\/a>. The US has far more data centers than any other country and has plans to build many more. As tech companies race to expand a new generation of hyperscale data centers for AI, communities are grappling with the prospect of having these hulking warehouses full of servers as their neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"_1g9byy50 _1g9byy51\">\n<p>\u201cIsn\u2019t it nice to have the environment as a scapegoat?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>As an environmental journalist, I sometimes get comments on my stories about whether these data centers or AI models are being unfairly portrayed as the menacing new bogeyman, especially when other industries \u2014 like fast fashion, for example \u2014 exacerbate climate change and pollute the environment. And as for GPUs, they\u2019re not just found in data centers, but also in consumer electronics. So why single out AI for its sustainability issues?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Some venture capitalists have blamed AI\u2019s slow consumer uptake on the bad press surrounding its environmental impact. To that, Flick can\u2019t help but chuckle: \u201cIsn\u2019t it nice to have the environment as a scapegoat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>A similar sentiment is bubbling up on social media. Ashley Striblet, who works in product strategy and consumer AI, recently published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@signalsandnoise\/video\/7617954642302930190?_r=1&_t=ZT-94mEJhFCnDp\">video on TikTok<\/a> pushing back on those VCs for \u201cblaming consumers\u201d for their own failures to invest in products people actually want. Many people understand that fast fashion or consumer technology can be bad for the environment, Striblet says, but they still buy these things because they feel like they\u2019re getting value from the products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cI think most people know that ordering clothes from Shein or Amazon is not the most environmentally conscious thing to do,\u201d Striblet tells me. \u201cWe also know Gen Z at some point were big consumers of these brands that provide really cheap clothing.\u201d The cost savings from buying cheap clothes turns out to be enough of a tradeoff to justify the purchase for many consumers, Flick adds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>On the other hand, many people just aren\u2019t yet seeing the benefits to their lives that VCs and CEOs are promising with AI, Flick and Striblet each tell me. \u201cIt\u2019s just rubbish what they\u2019re saying that their technology can do,\u201d Flick says. \u201cIt\u2019d be nice if we all had personalized butlers or whatever it is. But how do you get from point A to point B? It\u2019s not with what we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>And while the average American has yet to see the kinds of big leaps forward that are being promised, they\u2019re increasingly likely to see the costs of a new AI data center moving next door. For years, hubs for fast fashion or semiconductor manufacturing have been concentrated in Asia. Now, an explosion of data centers springing up in the US is making headlines for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2025-ai-data-centers-electricity-prices\/\">raising utility bills<\/a> and creating more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-03-23\/data-centers-under-scrutiny-by-california-lawmakers-as-fears-rise-about-health-energy-impacts\">pollution<\/a>. It\u2019s not happening in some faraway country, but in the same places where big American tech companies are courting more affluent consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>To be sure, even in the US, data centers are landing in some places where low-income neighborhoods and communities of color have long had to fight against the environmental injustice of polluters setting up shop at their doorsteps. The NAACP, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/naacp.org\/articles\/naacp-sues-xai-illegal-pollution-data-center-power-plant\">has sued xAI<\/a> (now doing business as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/ai-artificial-intelligence\/961896\/xais-x-account-is-now-spacexai\">SpaceXAI<\/a>) over air pollution from gas generators the company installed on-site to power its massive data centers. (SpaceXAI didn\u2019t respond to emails from <em>The Verge<\/em>.) The civil rights group had already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/exclusive\/770650\/data-center-ai-naacp-guiding-principles\">warned tech companies to \u201cbe on alert\u201d as it helps local groups across the nation mount their campaigns<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr class=\"xo8wui0\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"growing-globally-impacting-locally\" class=\"title-font lgfayh0 _19blzsf0\"><span>Growing globally, impacting locally<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"ognb8w0 title-font\">S<\/span>haolei<\/span><span class=\"sr-only\">Shaolei<\/span><span> Ren has witnessed the costs communities often pay in the name of progress. He\u2019s a researcher who has broadened the study of data centers\u2019 environmental impact beyond climate change to focus on air pollution and water scarcity near the facilities. Having grown up in a coal-mining region of northern China in the 1980s, Ren remembers keeping the windows shut 24\/7 to keep out the black carbon accumulating on the streets outside. And with limited water infrastructure in the province, his family stored water in tanks to ration throughout the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"_1g9byy50 _1g9byy52\">\n<p>More powerful GPUs are demanding ever more energy, creating air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Ren, who is now an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), leads research into the impact data centers have on air quality and water resources for nearby communities \u2014 costs that are often invisible each time a user enters a query into a chatbot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Sitting in his office at UCR on a rare gloomy Southern California afternoon just before a rainstorm, Ren tells me he\u2019s optimistic about the benefits AI can ultimately bring, including aiding scientific discovery. But those gains shouldn\u2019t be made at the expense of local communities, he says. The whiteboard behind him is covered with equations scrawled in blue marker for his research exploring how to tweak data center operations in order to use fewer resources and minimize pollution. Ren has a vision of what he calls a \u201ccommunity-integrated data center approach\u201d to prevent these facilities from harming nearby residents. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely doable,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>But for now, that\u2019s not what\u2019s typically happening. More powerful GPUs are demanding ever more energy, creating air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the process. Running them around the clock while keeping the hardware from overheating requires lots of water. It all adds up over the lifespan of a GPU, which might only be several years in a data center.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"quxdk00\" aria-labelledby=\"stat-figure-91-years-title\">\n<div class=\"quxdk01\">\n<header class=\"quxdk03\">\n<h2 id=\"stat-figure-91-years-title\" class=\"quxdk04\">93 Years<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"quxdk0c quxdk0d\"><img class=\"quxdk0e\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/\/_next\/static\/media\/1.09aec0a2.png\" alt=\"A car viewed from the side with exhaust smoke trailing from the tailpipe.\" width=\"1098\" height=\"304\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/div>\n<p class=\"quxdk08\">The energy needed to train a model like Meta\u2019s Llama 3.1 can produce as much air pollution as driving from New York City to Los Angeles and back 10,000 times \u2014 or roughly 93 years of driving.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"quxdk0l\">\n<p class=\"quxdk0m\">Source: <span><a class=\"quxdk0n\" href=\"https:\/\/news.ucr.edu\/articles\/2024\/12\/09\/ais-deadly-air-pollution-toll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"AI\u2019s deadly air pollution toll (opens in a new tab)\">AI\u2019s deadly air pollution toll<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>The energy needed to train a model as large as Meta\u2019s Llama 3.1 can lead to as much air pollution as 10,000 round trips by car between Los Angeles and New York City, Ren and colleagues at UCR and Caltech estimated in a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ucr.edu\/articles\/2024\/12\/09\/ais-deadly-air-pollution-toll\">2024 preprint study<\/a>. (Meta declined to comment on the record and instead referred <em>The Verge<\/em> to its <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainability.atmeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Meta_2025-Sustainability-Report_.pdf\">sustainability report<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/datacenters.atmeta.com\/environment\/\">webpage<\/a> on data centers.) Public health costs associated with growing adoption of AI could reach more than $20 billion by 2028 and 1,300 premature deaths annually from air pollution by 2030, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caltech.edu\/about\/news\/air-pollution-and-the-public-health-costs-of-ai\">the study found<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>AI is quickly surpassing the energy use and climate impact of other applications for GPUs. Gaming used roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s40869-019-00084-2?cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=CONR_BOOKS_ECOM_GL_PBOK_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&utm_content=textlink&utm_term=PID100095187&CJEVENT=c451e9354c7711f08029005b0a1cb826\">34 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year<\/a> in the US and led to carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to about 5 million cars on the road (about 24 million tons of CO2), according to a comprehensive study published in 2019. Since then, <a href=\"https:\/\/gtg.benabraham.net\/how-much-electricity-do-us-gamers-use\/\">newer consoles have become more energy-intensive<\/a>, although their climate impact depends a lot on user behavior and how dirty the electricity grid is wherever they\u2019re playing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>For a rough comparison, the energy use of GPU-accelerated AI servers in data centers <a href=\"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/32d6m0d1\">grew from 2TWh in 2017 to more than 40TWh in 2023<\/a> in the US, according to a 2024 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Now, with all the hype, AI servers\u2019 annual power consumption could grow to between 165 and 326TWh by 2028, the study predicted. The lower estimate would be roughly equivalent to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/energy\/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\">energy more than 8.7 million homes in the US might use<\/a> in a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"quxdk00\" aria-labelledby=\"stat-figure-terrawatt-hours-title\">\n<div class=\"quxdk02\">\n<header class=\"quxdk03\">\n<h2 id=\"stat-figure-terrawatt-hours-title\" class=\"quxdk07\">If AI data centers use 165 terawatt-hours of energy per year by 2028, the CO\u2082 emissions would be roughly equivalent to\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"quxdk0f\" role=\"list\">\n<div class=\"quxdk0g\" role=\"listitem\"><img class=\"quxdk0h\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/\/_next\/static\/media\/1.68151443.png\" alt=\"A lump of coal.\" width=\"400\" height=\"313\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0i\">72.1 billion<\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0j\">pounds of coal burned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quxdk0g\" role=\"listitem\"><img class=\"quxdk0h\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/\/_next\/static\/media\/2.1272fc92.png\" alt=\"A smartphone.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0i\">5.25 trillion<\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0j\">smartphones charged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quxdk0g\" role=\"listitem\"><img class=\"quxdk0h\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/\/_next\/static\/media\/3.928945b2.png\" alt=\"A single-family home.\" width=\"435\" height=\"270\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0i\">8.72 million<\/p>\n<p class=\"quxdk0j\">homes\u2019 yearly energy usage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"quxdk0l\">\n<p class=\"quxdk0m\">Source: <span><a class=\"quxdk0n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/energy\/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"epa.gov greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator (opens in a new tab)\">epa.gov greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>In 2025, AI likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/climate-change\/676528\/ai-data-center-energy-forecast-bitcoin-mining\">exceeded the power consumption of Bitcoin mining<\/a>, accounting for nearly half of all the electricity data centers used around the world, according to a study by Alex de Vries-Gao, a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Institute for Environmental Studies. The resulting carbon emissions likely reached between 32.6 million and 79.7 million tons annually, he estimates. For comparison, New York City\u2019s climate pollution reaches around 50 million tons of CO2 annually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>In Southern California, where both Ren and I live and work, massive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/c\/23030220\/e-commerce-warehouse-boom-california-inland-empire-bloomington\">warehouses storing and sorting Americans\u2019 e-commerce orders increasingly define the region<\/a>. Goods from Asia arrive by ship in the nearby Port of Los Angeles before making their way inland to the \u201cdry ports\u201d made up of Amazon fulfillment centers and similar facilities buzzing with big rigs around the clock.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"_1g9byy50 _1g9byy51\">\n<p>\u201cWhen we use AI we tend to forget that this has an impact on the real world around us. This goes beyond carbon [emissions], and it\u2019s kind of out of sight, out of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>The boom in new data centers reminds me of some of the same challenges these warehouses brought. National environmental groups rally around the climate impact of fast fashion and online shopping, while residents mount campaigns over local air pollution. Retirees suddenly see their quiet neighborhoods transformed by blocks of noisy industrial complexes. The <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/healthcare\/5755114-data-centers-air-pollution-lung-issues-report\/\">pollution<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcwashington.com\/news\/local\/northern-virginia\/neighbors-raise-concerns-about-noisy-data-center-in-loudoun\/4080249\/\">noise<\/a> complaints just come from the whirring of generators and cooling systems at data centers rather than truck traffic surrounding warehouses. But data centers raise an added concern, especially in dry regions out west.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Powering AI is an incredibly thirsty business, requiring water for electricity generation and cooling systems at data centers. De Vries-Gao <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2666389925002788\">estimates<\/a> that AI could have used between 312.5 billion and 764.6 billion liters of water in 2025, in the range of how much people consume globally in water bottles each year. It could be an even bigger jump in water demand than Ren <a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3724499\">predicted<\/a> in a 2023 study, when he and his colleagues estimated that water use could climb to as high as 600 billion liters in 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>As eye-popping as those numbers can be, looking at an annual total can still be an incomplete picture, Ren asserts. That\u2019s because the amount of water a facility uses is \u201cspikey.\u201d They tend to use the most water for cooling when temperatures rise \u2014 a demand spike that can suddenly put a ton of stress on a local water district at a time when the community might also be more prone to drought and water scarcity.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"quxdk00\" aria-labelledby=\"stat-figure-water-copy\"\/>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>During water demand peaks, a home might use 1.5 to 2.5 times more water than it typically would. A data center, on the other hand, might use 6 to 10 times as much \u2014 with some massive new data center projects potentially needing 30 times more water, Ren says. If these trends continue, US data centers could require up to 1,451 million gallons per day of new peak water capacity through 2030, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2603.02705\">preprint paper<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universityofcalifornia.edu\/news\/data-center-water-spikes-could-cost-billions\">Ren coauthored<\/a>. Meeting that demand would cost as much as $10 billion. Those are difficult costs to swallow for small community water systems that are often underfunded and may struggle to upgrade their infrastructure without additional support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Even tech companies\u2019 pledges to recycle water at data centers or replenish water sources nearby miss the mark, Ren argues. The public needs more transparency about water usage during peak demand so they can plan ahead. Communities should be able to work with tech companies to build up the infrastructure needed to increase capacity, he says, making sure residents aren\u2019t left with the tab.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr class=\"xo8wui0\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"from-the-cradle\" class=\"title-font lgfayh0 _19blzsf0\"><span>From the cradle<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"ognb8w0 title-font\">I<\/span>n<\/span><span class=\"sr-only\">In<\/span><span> order to better understand the environmental impact of GPUs, Sophia Falk, a PhD candidate at Bonn University, David Ekchajzer, a PhD student at the Universit\u00e9 Paris-Saclay, and their colleagues have thrown tens of thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of the chips into industrial blenders. They\u2019re still hoping for more donated graphics cards to study what they\u2019re made of and the footprint they have on the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>While data centers have been in the spotlight lately, they\u2019re far from the only way GPUs can take an environmental toll. There are the metals and chemicals used to manufacture them, and pollution across the entire supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cWhen we use AI we tend to forget that this has an impact on the real world around us,\u201d Falk says. \u201cThis goes beyond carbon [emissions], and it\u2019s kind of out of sight, out of mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Falk has <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2512.04142\">studied<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/huggingface.co\/spaces\/sophia-falk\/flops-2-footprints\">material footprint of the Nvidia A100<\/a>, 90 percent of which she and her coauthors found to be composed of heavy metals \u2014 primarily copper, iron, tin, and nickel \u2014 as well as silicon. Copper, a material that conducts electricity well and is widely used in power lines and electronics, makes up the biggest chunk. All the hype around generative AI and the wave of new data centers being built is exacerbating a global <a href=\"https:\/\/press.spglobal.com\/2026-01-08-Substantial-Shortfall-in-Copper-Supply-Widens-as-the-Race-for-AI-and-Growing-Defense-Spending-Add-to-Accelerating-Demand,-New-S-P-Global-Study-Finds\">shortfall in copper supply<\/a> (also fueled by the electrification of homes, buildings, and transportation).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Demand for the material could grow by 24 percent over the next decade, and new mines would have to open twice as fast as they did a decade ago, Wood Mackenzie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woodmac.com\/blogs\/the-edge\/can-copper-supply-keep-up-with-surging-demand\/\">estimates<\/a>. One of the biggest risks with large-scale metal mines, including copper, is <a href=\"https:\/\/earthworks.org\/issues\/acid-mine-drainage\/\">acid drainage<\/a> that can contaminate nearby water sources. Sulfides exposed during the mining process react with water and air to form sulfuric acid.<\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"uo5bt50\" aria-labelledby=\":R62jdbb96:-title\" data-gpu-diagram=\"true\">\n<div class=\"uo5bt51\">\n<h2 id=\":R62jdbb96:-title\" class=\"uo5bt53\"><span class=\"uo5bt54\">The elemental composition of a graphics card,<\/span> <!-- -->as an approximate percentage of total mass.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"uo5bt55\"><a class=\"uo5bt56\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/hubblo-org\/GPU-Embedded-Environmental-Impacts\/tree\/main\/Elementary%20Analysis\/A100%20SXM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Source: hubblo.org (opens in a new tab)\">Source: hubblo.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\":R62jdbb96:-label\" class=\"uo5bt57 uo5bt51\">GPU DIE AND VRAM<\/p>\n<div class=\"uo5bt52\">\n<div id=\":R62jdbb96:-panel\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\":R62jdbb96:-label\" aria-describedby=\":R62jdbb96:-panel-desc\" class=\"uo5bt58\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"uo5bt5d\" aria-label=\"Previous component: HEATSINK\"><span class=\"uo5bt5e uo5bt5f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"uo5bt59\">\n<div class=\"uo5bt5a\">\n<div class=\"uo5bt5b\"><img class=\"uo5bt5c\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/gpus\/diagram\/gpu-die.svg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"uo5bt5h\"><img class=\"uo5bt5i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/duet-csk-assets\/gpus\/diagram\/gpu-pie.svg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"uo5bt5d\" aria-label=\"Next component: POWER ON PACKAGE\"><span class=\"uo5bt5e uo5bt5g\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"uo5bt5m\">\n<p id=\":R62jdbb96:-panel-desc\">Line drawing of a graphics card circuit board with the GPU die and surrounding VRAM chips highlighted, beside a side view of the heatsink assembly.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<caption>Elemental composition of <!-- -->gpu die and vram<!-- -->, as an approximate percentage of total mass<\/caption>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\">Material<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Percent of mass<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<\/tbody>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Unknown or plastic<\/th>\n<td>42.43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Copper<\/th>\n<td>23.76%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Silicon<\/th>\n<td>16.76%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Tin<\/th>\n<td>9.83%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Calcium<\/th>\n<td>2.93%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Bismuth, zinc, boron, titanium, magnesium, barium, iron, nickel<\/th>\n<td>2.16%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">Aluminum<\/th>\n<td>1.89%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">7 other trace elements<\/th>\n<td>0.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Showing <!-- -->gpu die and vram<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>While a single A100 GPU might require about <a href=\"https:\/\/huggingface.co\/spaces\/sophia-falk\/flops-2-footprints\">1.4 kilograms of copper,<\/a> the impacts multiply when used to train or run a generative AI model. Training GPT-4, for example, could have required between 1,174 and 8,800 A100 GPUs. That much hardware could ultimately mean extracting and eventually dumping up to 7 tons of toxic elements, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2512.04142\">preprint study<\/a> by Falk and other researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Falk and Ekchajzer also <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2509.00093\">coauthored a study<\/a> along with a group of other researchers assessing the environmental costs of training GPT-4 using Nvidia\u2019s A100 GPU. They considered 16 different environmental impacts training can have \u2014 ranging from high-profile issues like data centers\u2019 energy use and carbon emissions to chemicals that escape into the environment from producing and discarding chips. The GPU chip itself dominated 10 categories, with manufacturing accounting for a majority of public health risks posed by toxic chemicals and nearly all of the cancer risk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Since the very first computer chips were manufactured, they\u2019ve left behind a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23990525\/semiconductor-biden-infrastructure-plan-toxic-chemicals\">toxic legacy<\/a>. It\u2019s why Santa Clara County in the heart of Silicon Valley has more Superfund sites than any other in the US. These are places so polluted by the chemicals used in manufacturing \u2014 some of which leaked out of underground storage tanks at chip factories to contaminate drinking water \u2014 that the federal government has put them on the National Priorities List for cleanup.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"_1g9byy50 _1g9byy52\">\n<p>\u201cDo we have enough energy to go around? My answer is no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Some of the chemicals used in chipmaking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/features\/611297\/manufacturing-workers-semiconductor-computer-chip-birth-defect\">linked to miscarriages among workers<\/a> were phased out in the US in the 1990s as the harms came to light. Around the same time, chip manufacturing was moving to Asia, where some of the same <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2017-06-15\/american-chipmakers-had-a-toxic-problem-so-they-outsourced-it?sref=ExbtjcSG&utm_source=pocket_saves#xj4y7vzkg\">health risks showed up decades later<\/a>. Now, generative AI is driving a rush to develop ever more powerful chips. New semiconductor factories are cropping up as a result, turning growing manufacturing hubs like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/features\/825207\/semiconductor-chip-manufacturing-new-silicon-valley\">Phoenix into the next silicon valley<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>TSMC started <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/648086\/nvidia-blackwell-ai-tsmc-arizona-plant\">producing Nvidia\u2019s coveted Blackwell chips<\/a> at its new factory (called a fab in industry speak) in Arizona last year. The facility rises suddenly from the desert landscape around Phoenix when I drive by in October. It\u2019s still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/phoenix\/2026\/01\/15\/tsmc-phoenix-expansion-accelerated\">expanding<\/a>, flanked by red cranes that loom taller over the construction site and surrounding brush than anything other than power lines that connect it to the rest of the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Electricity demand is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.php?id=65264\">climbing<\/a> in the US after more than a decade of flatlining \u2014 not only because of energy-hungry data centers, but also because of a resurgence of domestic manufacturing. In places like the US where fossil fuels still dominate the electricity mix \u2014 and where President Donald Trump is on a crusade to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/climate-change\/712038\/ai-energy-trump-epa-gas-coal-emissions\">prop up coal and gas over wind and solar<\/a> \u2014 soaring electricity demand also means more air pollutants and planet-heating emissions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Globally, the amount of electricity that AI chipmaking consumed jumped 350 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-eastasia-stateless\/2025\/04\/5011514f-greenpeace_chipping_point.pdf\">report<\/a> de Vries-Gao coauthored with Greenpeace last year. That resulted in a fourfold rise in carbon pollution, reaching about 453,600 metric tons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/energy\/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\">more than the annual emissions from a gas-fired power plant<\/a>. Most of the GPUs are still manufactured in East Asia, where power grids are similarly heavily reliant on fossil fuels.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"quxdk00\" aria-labelledby=\"stat-figure-carriers-title\"\/>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>The energy crunch was top of mind at Semicon West, the annual trade conference that was held in the new chip manufacturing hub of Phoenix last October. \u201cDo we have enough energy to go around? My answer is no,\u201d Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of the industry group SEMI that organized the conference, said during his keynote talk at the event. A diagram of \u201cunprecedented obstacles\u201d the industry faces includes two resources crucial to making semiconductors: energy, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/the-stepback-newsletter\/772845\/computer-chips-forever-chemicals\">forever chemicals<\/a>\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atsdr.cdc.gov\/pfas\/about\/health-effects.html\">linked<\/a> to kidney and testicular cancer and other health risks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>The risk of forever chemicals escaping from industrial facilities sprouting up to support chip manufacturing in Arizona was a big worry for some of the residents I met there last fall. The prospect of chemicals contaminating already drought-vulnerable water sources in the region only raises the stakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cIt\u2019s terrifying,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/features\/825207\/semiconductor-chip-manufacturing-new-silicon-valley\">Cheryl Orosco tells me in October<\/a>, chunky turquoise and silver jewelry dangling from her ears and neck. She\u2019s retired and joined neighbors in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/amkor-semiconductor-arizona-moved\/759362\/\">pushing developers to build a chip packaging plant farther away<\/a> from homes and schools in their community. \u201cThis is our forever home,\u201d she says, placing her hands over her heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr class=\"xo8wui0\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"to-the-grave\" class=\"title-font lgfayh0 _19blzsf0\"><span>To the grave <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"ognb8w0 title-font\">D<\/span>e<\/span><span class=\"sr-only\">De<\/span><span> Vries-Gao, who gained notoriety tracking the energy consumption and carbon pollution of crypto mining on the website <a href=\"https:\/\/digiconomist.net\/\">Digiconomist<\/a>, thought his work studying the environmental impact of data centers was coming to a close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>He started the website thinking, \u201cThere\u2019s no nutrition label on digital applications,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s real-world impact for sure, but it\u2019s not tangible and I think it\u2019s really important that people are at least informed that, hold up, you know, when you\u2019re using these applications, there is a cost.\u201d But research by de Vries-Gao and others had already called a lot of attention to energy-hungry data farms used for crypto mining. The largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, Ethereum, had already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/9\/15\/23354619\/ethereum-cryptocurrency-merge-energy-electricity-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reduction\">switched to a vastly less energy-intensive way of operating<\/a> \u2014 showing that it was possible to slash carbon emissions if crypto networks were willing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Then as the hype around generative AI grew, his focus shifted. \u201cOne thing that crypto mining and AI have in common is the \u2018bigger is better\u2019 dynamic,\u201d he says. Data centers for AI posed many similar environmental challenges to crypto mines. But housing more powerful hardware, those risks can be even greater. Whereas specialized chips used for crypto mining perform the same repetitive task \u2014 solving puzzles to validate transactions \u2014 GPUs used for AI perform far more complex computing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>One unseen consequence is even more e-waste, including larger and more complex components used in AI data centers. De Vries-Gao\u2019s latest <a href=\"https:\/\/vu.nl\/en\/news\/2026\/new-estimate-of-ai-e-waste\">study<\/a>, published in February, estimates that AI servers could create between 0.131 million and 0.225 million tons of e-waste each year by 2030. He says that\u2019s comparable to all the e-waste produced by a country the size of Denmark, Norway, or Austria. It\u2019s also a much more conservative estimate compared to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43588-024-00712-6\">2024 study by other researchers<\/a>, which predicted that e-waste from AI could reach between 1.2 million and 5 million tons by the end of the decade.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>De Vries-Gao estimates a smaller amount of waste after factoring in supply chain constrictions, and because he sees the lifespan of a server growing beyond the three years that other researchers have used as a benchmark. But the amount of e-waste he projects will build up as a result of AI is still a lot, he tells me. \u201cThe total impact is significant,\u201d he says. \u201cWhether you\u2019re talking about crypto miners or whether you\u2019re talking about the big tech companies, they don\u2019t take responsibility.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"quxdk00\" aria-labelledby=\"stat-figure-empire-state-title\"\/>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Only about 22 percent of the 68.3 million tons of e-waste accumulating annually worldwide is collected and recycled, according to the last comprehensive count <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/en\/ITU-D\/Environment\/Pages\/Publications\/The-Global-E-waste-Monitor-2024.aspx\">published in 2024<\/a>. That rate is higher, 30 percent, in the Americas, where there are the most data centers. The rest of that e-waste enters the shadowy \u201cinformal\u201d sector, often in lower-income countries where waste management facilities are less likely to meet high environmental, health, and safety standards. Sometimes called \u201cbackyard recycling,\u201d people \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/electronic-waste-(e-waste)\">and potentially child laborers<\/a> \u2014 manually dismantle discarded electronics with little or no personal protective equipment. They might burn or melt devices down to extract raw materials that they can resell. Servers used for large language models hold valuable materials like gold, silver, and platinum, but also toxic materials including lead and the carcinogen chromium. Burning or burying those toxic substances can release harmful pollutants into the air or allow them to seep into groundwater.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Around 58 percent of e-waste coming from AI data centers is generated in North America, where there is a higher formal collection rate. And experts tell me that data center operators often work with subcontractors to toss out old GPUs. But the US has not ratified the Basel Convention that limits the international trade of hazardous wastes, including e-waste. Investigations have found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/12\/4\/20992240\/e-waste-recycling-electronic-basel-convention-crime-total-reclaim-fraud\">US recyclers sending e-waste abroad<\/a>, where it might fall into the black hole of backyard recycling.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr class=\"xo8wui0\"\/>\n<h2 id=\"gaming-out-the-way-forward\" class=\"title-font lgfayh0 _19blzsf0\"><span>Gaming out the way forward <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><span class=\"ognb8w0 title-font\">S<\/span>ome<\/span><span class=\"sr-only\">Some<\/span><span> of the researchers I talked to for this story say they also encounter questions about the need to focus on the environmental impact of AI when data centers globally only made up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/energy-and-ai\/energy-demand-from-ai\">1.5 percent<\/a> of global electricity consumption in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cOf course on a global scale, it\u2019s not that much,\u201d Falk says. But it\u2019s important to scrutinize AI, she says, because of \u201cthe exponential growth in energy consumption of data centers,\u201d especially in comparison to other sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Ekchajzer points to the ways in which AI is also changing the environmental footprints of other industries. \u201cFor instance, if we want to electrify the transport system, now it is being jeopardized by the fact that we are using additional electricity for AI rather than for transport,\u201d he says. The environmental consultancy Hubblo, which Ekchajzer cofounded, recently launched a new <a href=\"https:\/\/data.hubblo.org\/gpu\">online tool<\/a> that compares the environmental impacts of different graphics cards, starting with nine different Nvidia designs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>The question to ask with generative AI, as with other emerging technologies, is whether it\u2019s providing benefits that outweigh the costs to society. \u201cGenerative AI is totally one of those classic solutions looking for a problem,\u201d says Flick, the ethics and games technology professor. That mentality feeds the risky hype cycle of companies pushing for any way to justify and continue scaling up the investments they\u2019ve made in the technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cThe way we kind of pull this back a little bit is to say, \u2018Okay, well, what is usable from this and how can we scope it back down again so that it\u2019s going to be worth the [societal] cost?\u2019\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Using a GPU longer before throwing it out, dismantling and reassembling an obsolete graphics card so it can be downcycled for other uses, and similar waste-cutting measures could reduce e-waste from generative AI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43588-024-00712-6\">by up to 86 percent<\/a>, according to the 2024 study.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Tech companies can also design chips and AI models to be more energy-efficient. Nvidia points out in an email to <em>The Verge<\/em> that its Blackwell Ultra is <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/blog\/data-blackwell-ultra-performance-lower-cost-agentic-ai\/\">50 times<\/a> more efficient than its previous Hopper GPU architecture, and that the company has <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.nvidia.com\/blog\/scaling-token-factory-revenue-and-ai-efficiency-by-maximizing-performance-per-watt\/\">improved inference throughput per megawatt by 1,000,000x<\/a> over the past six architecture generations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cIf the average fuel efficiency of a car had improved as swiftly as chips over a similar time period, one gallon of gas would suffice for a trip to the moon and back,\u201d Nvidia head of sustainability Josh Parker says in the email.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>But increased efficiency can become a double-edged sword that incentivizes companies to burn through even more resources overall. That\u2019s where it gets important to challenge the \u201cbigger is better\u201d mentality within the tech industry, some of the researchers I spoke with say.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>An AI model might double in size just to achieve a 2 percent gain in capability \u2014 is that worth the added environmental toll, Falk posits during our Zoom call. \u201cI have a question of sufficiency, that we should say like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s enough, the model is good enough.\u2019 Where do we stop?\u201d Falk says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Microsoft is building out a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/source\/features\/ai\/from-wisconsin-to-atlanta-microsoft-connects-datacenters-to-build-its-first-ai-superfactory\/\">network of new AI data centers it\u2019s calling Fairwater sites<\/a>, each able to scale to \u201chundreds of thousands of NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs.\u201d The company declined to comment on the record for this story, instead pointing to blogs it\u2019s published on Microsoft\u2019s research into techniques like using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/876083\/microsoft-ai-data-center-superconductor\">superconducting materials<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/785992\/ai-chip-cooling-microsoft-microfluidic-energy-efficiency\">liquid cooling<\/a> to make data centers more energy-efficient.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"_1g9byy50 _1g9byy51\">\n<p>\u201cGenerative AI is totally one of those classic solutions looking for a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Environmental groups want more accountability. Since other companies manufacture the chips Nvidia designs, Greenpeace East Asia is pushing Nvidia to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/press\/68641\/greenpeace-to-nvidia-an-ai-industrial-revolution-cannot-be-powered-by-19th-century-energy\/\">clean up its supply chain<\/a> by investing in more renewable energy capacity where they operate. And it doesn\u2019t discriminate between GPUs made for AI or gaming or any other purpose. The organization and other local groups have called attention to the health and environmental impacts semiconductor manufacturing has had in Taiwan and Korea for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>All of the hype around AI is just bringing the issue to the forefront. \u201cThe whole AI boom accelerates and intensifies this kind of phenomenon in East Asia,\u201d says Katrin Wu, Greenpeace East Asia\u2019s supply chain project lead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>And even though the GPU is the \u201cbackbone\u201d of that boom, she says, and Nvidia has a market cap of $4 trillion, the chip designer doesn\u2019t get the same pushback that more consumer-facing companies like Microsoft or Google might have over their environmental footprint. \u201cSomehow they can avoid the public and social scrutiny,\u201d she says, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re not, like, completely against AI development.\u201d Greenpeace just wants it to happen more sustainably.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>TSMC, which makes chips for Nvidia, points to investments it\u2019s made in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsmc.com\/static\/abouttsmcaz\/index.htm#section_sustain\">renewable energy, water reclamation, and waste reduction<\/a> in an email to <em>The Verge<\/em>. In Arizona, for example, TSMC is building an industrial water reclamation plant at its manufacturing site \u201cto achieve near-zero liquid discharge, substantially reducing dependence on local water sources,\u201d according to TSMC deputy spokesperson Nina Kao.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Intel, which is also expanding its fabs in Arizona to produce powerful GPUs for AI, points to <a href=\"https:\/\/csrreportbuilder.intel.com\/pdfbuilder\/pdfs\/CSR-2024-25-Full-Report.pdf\">commitments<\/a> the company has made to achieve zero waste to landfill, replenish more water than it uses, and match electricity use with renewable energy in an email to <em>The Verge<\/em>. \u201cWe believe that corporate responsibility and innovation go hand in hand. This belief has guided our work for decades \u2013 from setting ambitious sustainability aspirations to embedding responsible practices across our global operations, supply chain, and product design,\u201d Madison West, head of sustainability at Intel, said in the email.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>Sure, environmental concerns don\u2019t often influence consumers\u2019 purchases. And much of the pushback against AI stems from other moral quandaries. But consumers can play a role in advocating for more accountability from tech companies. Some game developers have already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/entertainment\/848368\/gen-ai-video-games-2025\">faced fierce criticism<\/a> over their use of generative AI, albeit largely over the prospect of AI replacing people\u2019s jobs and artistry. \u201cWhat do we do when we make games? It\u2019s a human story that we tell, right?\u201d Flick says. \u201cGames are very powerful tools for narrative and telling stories, and shaping how people think about things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>A 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/climatecommunication.yale.edu\/publications\/video-gamers-article\/\">study<\/a> in the US found that gamers were more likely to want to take collective action on climate change than people who don\u2019t play video games. Marina Psaros, one of the authors of the study, wasn\u2019t exactly surprised. After all, gaming isn\u2019t a passive form of entertainment, she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cYou\u2019re actually directly responsible for the experience that you have with that game. Often, that\u2019s the joy of it, is that you\u2019re driving the narrative and you\u2019re discovering how to do new things,\u201d Psaros says. In that way, games \u2014 and the GPUs powering them \u2014 offer people a way to envision a different, better world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>\u201cThat\u2019s one that I think is exciting,\u201d she says. \u201c[It\u2019s] the opportunity for us to be able to use the imagination and the visualization aspect of games to think about how we want our communities to function differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span>And when it comes to facing the issues that hold up consumer adoption of AI, \u201creally the ideal solution for this is to actually just directly address and be empathetic to consumers\u2019 concerns,\u201d says Striblet. \u201cSo that you\u2019re able to actually develop the <\/span><span class=\"ognb8w1\">solutions.\u201d<span class=\"ognb8w2\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span><em>This reporting was supported by a grant from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/fellowship\">Tarbell Center for AI Journalism<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--article-body-component i1q8iy0 body-text\"><span><em>Additional reporting by Sean Hollister.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/cs\/features\/937356\/ai-data-center-gpu-environmental-impact\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HowHow does AI make you feel? Are you excited to \u201cvibe-code\u201d your smart home? Or anxious about all the added pollution and billions of gallons of water used by data centers? Dig a little deeper and you\u2019ll start to question the actual value of the GPUs that underpin all the leaps and promises of generative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[426,176,49,410,169,34],"class_list":["post-4144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-climate","tag-energy","tag-environment","tag-features","tag-science","tag-tech"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"27 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\"},\"headline\":\"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144\"},\"wordCount\":5425,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"climate\",\"energy\",\"environment\",\"Features\",\"Science\",\"Tech\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gadgets\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144\",\"name\":\"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":624},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=4144#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"description\":\"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":1115,\"height\":522,\"caption\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\",\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SILVYBRAND\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","og_description":"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.","og_url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144","og_site_name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":624,"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SILVYBRAND","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SILVYBRAND","Est. reading time":"27 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144"},"author":{"name":"SILVYBRAND","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3"},"headline":"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers","datePublished":"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144"},"wordCount":5425,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg","keywords":["climate","energy","environment","Features","Science","Tech"],"articleSection":["Gadgets"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144","name":"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-21T11:08:38+00:00","description":"AI data centers are increasingly sparking backlash, but we don\u2019t have a good way to talk about the many other uses of GPUs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/258075_GPU_IMAGE_LEDE.jpg","width":1200,"height":624},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4144#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The cost of GPUs goes far beyond AI data centers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","width":1115,"height":522,"caption":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3","name":"SILVYBRAND","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SILVYBRAND"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com"],"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}