Erin Brockovich: Environmentalist against the data center boom

A prominent American activist has joined the global resistance to the huge proliferation of data centers – Erin Brockovich.

The 65-year-old environmentalist was made famous by the Hollywood film that bears her name, in which she was played by Julia Roberts. Now she has set up an online platform: the Brockovich Data Center , which collects information on the planning and construction of new data centers in the United States and marks their locations on a map.

"This map captures the real-world footprint of that race — revealing patterns of growth, conflict and uncertainty," Brockovich writes. She has received thousands of tip-offs since the launch of the platform in April. She is aiming to give a voice to US citizens, and help them gain an overview of where AI data centers are located, because: "The public should not be the last to know."

Data centers have existed in some form for decades. But in recent years, big-tech companies have hugely accelerated the construction of new ones all over the world. As well as powering AI , the demand for cloud services and platforms is growing exponentially.

Critics like Brockovich highlight, above all, the massive amount of energy and water that data centers require to power their servers and cool the equipment. According to the non-governmental organization AlgorithmWatch , based in Berlin and Zurich, a single data center can devour as much energy as a small town.

In countries such as India, the construction of a data center can lead to acute water shortage. People who live near a data center in India told DW that since its construction they only have water for a few hours a day.

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Furthermore, the hardware in these centers wears out very quickly, creating huge amounts of electronic waste. On her website, Brockovich also refers to noise pollution, which affects both people and animals.