Data Centers

DEAR EDITOR:

I hear a lot of negativity about data centers, but are we willing to admit how much we all contribute to the demand for them?

Virtually everything we build and use has some environmental impact - farming, housing developments, office parks, manufacturing facilities, roads, wind turbines, solar farms and yes, data centers too.

The real question is: who is willing to give up their internet connection, streaming services, social media, online shopping, cloud storage, email, smartphones and AI-powered tools to stop the growth of data centers?

Because all of those rely on massive computing infrastructure.

Some estimates claim that nearly 40% of posts and 70% of images on Facebook are now AI-generated. Meta, Facebook's parent company, has reportedly spent around $140 billion on AI over the past three years. Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects "2026 to be the year that AI dramatically changes the way we work."

To put $140 billion into perspective: that amount could build approximately 560,000 homes valued at $250,000 each.

Whether people realize it or not, if you are on Facebook, you are already contributing to the growth of AI infrastructure.

Projected AI infrastructure spending for 2026 alone is staggering:

♦ Alphabet (Google): roughly $190 billion

♦ Amazon: approximately $200 billion

♦ Microsoft: roughly $190 billion

♦ Meta (Facebook): estimated between $125 - 145 billion

Some analysts predict total global AI infrastructure spending could reach $765 billion in 2026, with much of it driven by U.S. tech companies.

If you use Amazon, you are using AI.

If you use Google, you are using AI.

If you use Facebook, Instagram or Microsoft products, you are using AI.

Data centers are growing because society's demand for digital services, cloud computing and AI is growing right alongside them.

Will you give up Amazon, Google and Facebook?

P. S. I used ChatGPT - AI - to help polish the wording in the letter.

Tim Richardson

Acworth

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 7:05 PM.