Amazon's Texas AI Data Centre Gas Plant Raises Pollution Concerns

Computers that power artificial intelligence, like chatbots, need a huge amount of electricity.

Amazon is building a big new power plant called GW Ranch in West Texas to help run one of its data centres, which are giant buildings full of computers.

The plant will burn natural gas and have 35 large turbines that together can make about 7.65 gigawatts of power.

Its permit would allow it to release up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat and warms the planet.

That is more than the largest coal power plant in the United States is allowed to produce.

Almost all of that electricity will go straight to Amazon's computers, not to people's homes.

Data centres also use water to keep their hot computers cool, and Amazon's data centres used about 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025.

Amazon says it still plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, but its pollution has gone up as it builds more AI tools.

Some people are worried that powering AI is hurting the environment, even as the technology grows quickly.