A Boring Dystopia

I can't believe it: a ragebait screenshot with a mix of accurate and inaccurate details that make a bad situation look even worse. You all have frontal lobes, fellow apes. Use them to think critically, because there's a REASON memes like this want you to react emotionally and it's not in your best interests at all.

Tl;dr: the data center's usage is an issue, the local governments that facilitate and even encourage this behaviour are arguably even worse.

Truth: this shit hole data center used 30M gallons of water over the course of several months without being billed for it.

Rage Bait: they did it "illegally."

Truth: the data center fully intended and was allowed by local government to use that water in the course of its construction, but weren't billed because they didn't inform the local utility of one water hookup, and the utility cocked up by ignoring the usage for that hookup and failed to bill the center for the usage on its second hookup. The data center did exceed their usage limits, but that's not illegal: they simply pay penalties for the overage. The local utility waived these penalties because they're spineless.

Rage Bait: the exceedance caused a drop in water pressure.

Truth: the locals experiencing water pressure drops receive their water from groundwater while the data center uses surface water. Given groundwater recharge rates are painfully slow, the data center's usage did not cause the issue, though the pressure complaints led to the investigation that found the billing issues.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/data-center-used-30-million-gallons-of-water-without-initially-paying/

When you owe the bank $10,000 then you've got a problem.

When you owe the bank $100M then the bank's got a problem.

You are absolutely correct! I evaporated 30 million gallons of water that I was not legally allowed to use. Would you like me to come up with a plan to reduce water usage?

whoops, accidentally used a bit too much water

If you did it, it wouldn't be called "used illegally" it would be given its more traditional name of "stealing."

corporations are people until crimes

Hope they kept that water for when the town burns that data center to the ground.

They did get billed ~$150k and paid for the water. Questions have not been answered about how the two connections were made without the water authority's knowledge. Seems difficult for a water main to just spontaneously form but maybe, I am not a pipe expert

30 million gallons is a mistake? No, that is blatant theft.

Funny how “honest mistake” only works when you’re rich enough to call it that. 30 million gallons is insane.

Whoopsie, I accidetawy used 30 miwion gawons of water 🥹 Can I pliz have more if I pwomise to behave?

I used to "mistakenly" jack off in my window, just like I "accidentally" faked schizophrenia to get outta ROTC over the course of weeks, to include telling them my nonexistent sister got me pregnant, so I understand how this is possible.

We need the corporate death penalty so fucking badly...

Oopsy woopsie, AI Data Centre did a fucky wucky!

If corporations are people, I want to see Texas execute one!

I don't understand how data centers work. Like are they hiring people to stand there with a hose spraying racks or something? Why the fuck isn't this water being cycled?

the mistake was getting caught

30 million gallons of water... you know with all that money that they are throwing at these data centers, they could solve world hunger or at least alleviate it in America, cure cancer, do something for the environment like reforestation especially in the desert parts of America and there are methods do it but no their unwavering focus is on something that makes that will make everything worse! More heat, faster resource depletion and destruction of environment around these data centers, like for who is this supposed to make life better? if you immediately thought of the terminator then yeah they'll be fine but us? we are so fucked if this keeps going.

And nothing will happen to them.

Burn it down

You can if you're bribing the local politicians

CAFO "Factory Farms" in Minnesota used 2.3 billion gallons of water in 2017 and the number is going up

A typical Hog CAFO uses 5-10 million gallons per month, every month, all year long.

Dairy CAFOS use 10-20 million.

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11365/ https://www.elpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MI-CAFO-Report-Section-1-ELPC.pdf

In Georgia where this data center is they have hundreds of these farms which not only drain the local aquifers but create shit lagoons that pollute mostly black neighborhoods.

It is the height of hypocrisy to complain about datacenters and support animal agriculture which is unnecessary.

mfw i think Georgia the country.

I saw a show once, where a sea parks burned down. And I know what you're thinking: "a fire? At a Sea Parks?!" And, yes, it is an odd place to go on fire, because of all that water, but it's happened. Anyway, the data center is flush with water, you say?