When AI data centers come to town, companies promise jobs and opportunity. In one drought-stricken community in Brazil, residents are weighing the choices. How do communities balance the economic boost and environmental cost of hosting water-reliant data centers?

In this episode:

Laís Martins (‪@laismartins.com‬), Investigative Journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé and Haleema Shah, with Remas Alhawari, Manny Panaretos, Mariana Navarrete, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.

The Take production team is Marcos Bartolomé, Sonia Bhagat, Sarí el-Khalili, Tamara Khandaker, Phillip Lanos, Chloe K. Li, Ashish Malhotra, Haleema Shah, Khaled Soltan, Amy Walters, and Noor Wazwaz. Our editorial interns are Remas Alhawari, Marya Khan, and Kisaa Zehra. Our guest host is Kevin Hirten. Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad and Vienna Maglio. Aya Elmileik is lead of audience engagement.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Why is drought-hit Brazil saying yes to AI data centers?

The Take

Why is drought-hit Brazil saying yes to AI data centers?