In Chile, an environmental organization successfully protested against Google’s construction of a new AI data center. The company announced it would adhere to stricter environmental protection guidelines.
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00:00Environmental groups in Chile are fighting back against the construction of more data centers.
00:07Many companies, including tech giant Google, have created server farms in the Santiago region,
00:12and more are being planned.
00:18Activists like Tania Rodriguez have long been sounding the alarm.
00:24We recognize the havoc these data centers wreak on nature.
00:28Data centers that are not necessarily beneficial for Chileans,
00:32but rather for other countries in the world.
00:34They generate very few jobs, and the environmental impact is severe.
00:41Tania Rodriguez is a member of the environmental organization MOSACAD.
00:46The group is protesting the expansion of data centers in the region, including a new Google project.
00:52MOSACAD activists say these data centers have a huge impact on Chile's water supply.
00:59The data center itself would use 169 liters of water per second.
01:05That's the equivalent of nearly nine Olympic-sized swimming pools every day,
01:09which are filled and drained, because this isn't reusable water.
01:13Given the increasing droughts we're experiencing, this is a mind-boggling waste.
01:20Environmentalists say the data center's high water consumption puts the Kilikoro wetland
01:25at risk.
01:30Santiago does not have the luxury of large water reserves.
01:34And actually, the region is in a drought period that's predicted to stretch on for years.
01:41Many people used to grow crops.
01:43There are places here where they used to grow strawberries, and now they can't do anything.
01:47They have to buy everything, and they don't even have water to use in the bathroom.
01:52With government support, Santiago has become a popular location in Latin America for data centers.
02:01Chile is attractive because our laws are lax.
02:04We have almost no legislation.
02:06Plus, there's no political responsibility.
02:12The activists recognize that there are also advantages to AI.
02:17The activists recognize that there are also advantages to AI.
02:21But they want the environmental burden of data centers to be shared more fairly with other countries.
02:30They arrive here and want to do these huge construction projects, which are coming from Europe.
02:35So they bring them here, to Latin America.
02:39Their protests have been successful.
02:42A Chilean court halted Google's data center project,
02:45ruling that it had to consider its environmental impact.
02:49Google has planted trees to offset emissions,
02:52but the region continues to be affected by drought.
02:55Chilean activists continue to fight for change,
02:58and hope that the government will implement stricter environmental regulations in the future.