Who Really Pays for Your Free AI?
You use ChatGPT. You search with Google. You unlock your phone with your face. You scroll TikTok. You ask Alexa questions.
All of this AI is free.
But someone, somewhere, is paying the real cost.
Every AI query runs on massive data centers filled with powerful computers. These data centers:
Silicon Valley doesn't have the space, water, or power infrastructure for massive data centers. So they're built in small towns across the Midwest and rural America.
Mesa, Arizona. West Des Moines, Iowa. Rural Virginia.
The companies don't face the consequences—these communities do: water shortages, energy grid strain, increased utility bills, noise pollution.