Bro, sit down and grab a cold beer, because I've got news that'll make you see that 'fancy' thing we call artificial intelligence in a whole new light. Didn't I tell you everything that's too good comes with a price? Well, now we know how steep that price is, and I'm not talking money—I'm talking water, man! Listen up: a simple chat with ChatGPT, just to write a 100-word email, chugs exactly 519 milliliters of water. Yeah, a whole bottle, for real! That's what researchers Li and Ren from the University of California Riverside found and published in 2025. That water goes to cooling the servers and generating power, because those chips heat up like crazy—each one between 300 and 700 watts, and there are tens of thousands running for weeks when they train those big models. Man, if I think about how much water I've drunk at Fane's terrace in my life, and now the robots are drinking more than me!
And it's not just one bottle, boss. A single hyperscale AI campus drinks more water in one day than a town of 10,000 people uses for everything—drinking, washing, watering, the works. Google, for example, guzzled about 8.1 billion gallons in 2024, 95% of that in data centers, up 8% from 2023. In fact, between 2021 and 2024, their consumption nearly doubled, thanks to AI. Microsoft downed 1.7 billion gallons in 2022, 34% more than in 2021. And here's the kicker: when they trained GPT-4 in Iowa in July 2022, they sucked up 11.5 million gallons, and in August 13.4 million. The complex expanded to five buildings that drain 68.5 million gallons a year from West Des Moines' water system. Meta drank 813 million gallons in 2023, 95% in data centers. Amazon doesn't even publish—probably too ashamed.
Li and Ren's study also says that by 2027, AI will demand between 4.2 and 6.6 billion cubic meters of water per year. To put that in perspective: half of what all of England uses in a year! And, bro, 42% of the water Microsoft drank in 2023 came from water-stressed areas—places where water is already scarce. For Google, it's 15%. The UN says a quarter of the world will face serious water stress by 2030. And we, the suckers, let these guys drink our water.
But wait, it's not all doom and gloom. They say AI can help manage water—better climate models, more efficient irrigation, better weather forecasts. So they steal our hat, but maybe they'll give it back. That's how they are, those slicksters.
Now, let's move to the job part, since we're talking tricks. Over a hundred thousand IT workers got laid off in the first half of 2026, almost as many as in all of 2025. And 50% of those layoffs, they say, are because of AI. In Romania, waves haven't hit yet, but hiring has stopped. Bianca Muntean from Transilvania IT Cluster says that for the first time in 16 years, labor demand has dropped. And Dragoș Stanca, a digital transformation expert, says now you come to an interview with your AI agents and you have better chances. Over half of our IT workers already use AI. Mihai Zâmboian, a specialist, says it cut his work from days to hours. Ioana Szabo, an analyst, warns that some rehired people after quality dropped. Well, of course, bro, the robot has no soul, no passion like Mioara puts into her sarmale.
And now, the part that pisses me off the most: the money. The number of millionaires (over a million dollars) hit 25.3 million in 2025, two million more than in 2024. Total asset value: 98.3 trillion dollars. The US alone minted 736,000 new millionaires, totaling 8.7 million. And why? Because AI and microchip company stocks exploded. Me, with my 2008 BMW, I look at them and feel like kicking something. The richest of the rich, the ultra-wealthy with over 30 million dollars, accumulated the fastest. That's right, money goes to the rich, while we drink water and pay bills.
And to top off the madness, leaders from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Microsoft AI, and Anthropic asked the US Congress to control synthetic DNA purchases. They're afraid AI could make biological weapons. Synthetic DNA is ordered online, good for vaccines and treatments, but it can also be used to recreate dangerous viruses. Researchers from Oxford, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins have warned. The EU is also watching, preparing a European Biotech Act. So, bro, AI is like a spoiled kid: it drinks your water, takes your job, makes weapons, but might also save your life. What can I say?
This weekend, in Craiova, at the 'Marin Sorescu' National Theatre, there's the 'Explorers of the Future' event, from 10 to 18. Kids can go to VR stands, robotics, quizzes, archaeology, painting, science shows, and a planetarium. Free entry. Maybe I'll take Brian to see what artificial intelligence is, so he doesn't think it's just a TikTok with Salam in the background. But until then, I'm going to drink some water—I got thirsty just thinking about how much ChatGPT drinks. We're the ones, suckers, paying for both the water and the electricity!
