A project by Riley Sipe

WHO WANTS
A DATA
CENTER

Live US AI Infrastructure Tracker — whowantsadatacenter.com

Gallons of water consumed — this year

US data centers / Jan 1 – now / 2026

AI industry revenue generated — this year

Global AI market / Jan 1 – now / 2026 est.

People impacted by data center construction

Higher power bills, water stress, land displacement & health impacts

~38,000,000+

Operational —

Under Construction —

Planned / Announced —

Hover any dot for details

Are these all the data centers?

No. There are 5,400+ data centers in the US and I'm showing roughly 120 representative major ones, weighted toward AI/hyperscale facilities. What's on the map covers the most significant AI infrastructure projects but is not exhaustive.

Are the live numbers accurate?

They're honest estimates derived from research, not live API feeds. To be transparent:

Water — based on EESI/Lawrence Berkeley lab projections extrapolated to 2026. The real number is unknowable in real time because no central agency publishes it live.
Revenue — based on Grand View Research's ~$510B 2026 global AI market projection divided into per-second increments. An informed estimate, not a live feed.
People impacted — a static figure (~38M+) from WRI and Brookings research. It doesn't actually change.

Updates derived from the following sources

Visual Capitalist — America's Data Center Construction Boom (Mar 2026) Visual Capitalist — Ranked: Which US States Will Be Data Center Hotspots (Apr 2026) Axios — America's Data Center Growth Hot Spots, Mapped (Dec 2025) Blackridge Research — Top 15 Upcoming US Data Centers (Apr 2026) Built In — Infrastructure Deals Powering AI in America The Register — Stargate Project: Five New US Locations (Sep 2025) WaterVerge — Data Centers Are Drinking Your Water (2026) EESI — Data Centers and Water Consumption MOST Policy Initiative — Data Center Water Use (Apr 2026) Lincoln Institute — Data Drain: Land and Water Impacts (Feb 2026) AI Tool Discovery — How Much Water Does AI Use? (2026) Sentinel Earth — Data Centers Now Drink More Water Than Cities (2026) Fortune — Big Tech's $700B AI Spending Spree (Apr 2026) Statista — Big Tech AI Spending to Reach $725B in 2026 Georgetown Steers — The Geography of AI Data Centers (Feb 2026) Pew Research — Most New Data Centers Coming to Rural Areas (Apr 2026) US Data Map — Interactive Map of 800+ US Data Centers (2026) Sacra — OpenAI Revenue & Market Data (2026) Grand View Research — Global AI Market Size & Forecast VentionTeams — State of AI 2026: Market Size & Investment Fortune Business Insights — AI Market 2025: $294B Valuation ABC4 — Tracking AI Data Centers Across Utah (2026)

Water counter: EESI estimates US data centers consume ~163.7B gal/yr (2021 baseline); adjusted to ~210B gal/yr for 2026 reflecting AI-driven growth per LBNL projections. Counter ticks from Jan 1 2026. Revenue counter: Global AI market estimated at ~$390B for 2025 (Grand View Research / Fortune Business Insights); 2026 projected at ~$510B based on ~30% CAGR, ticked in real time from Jan 1 2026. Impact counter: Based on WRI analysis (65M people in PJM grid region affected by power rate spikes), Bloomberg/Consumer Reports community impact data, and Brookings employment research. Estimated 38M+ directly impacted by elevated electricity bills, water stress, land use changes, and health costs near operational facilities. Static estimate — actual number growing. Map uses US Census / Natural Earth geographic data rendered via D3.js. Dot positions are approximate. Not all 5,400+ US facilities shown.