“We need water, not data.” Common in 42 US states

A wave of protest has risen in the United States against the rapid construction of data centers serving artificial intelligence (AI) projects. These infrastructures power tech giants like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk’s xAI. Activists claim that such facilities place an excessive burden on local resources, particularly the power system and water supply.

Protesters chanted “We need water, not data” and “Georgia didn’t vote for hyperscale AB centers.” According to the organizers, the movement has brought together people of different political views who are deeply concerned about the impact of these new facilities on their urban and rural communities.

According to a June Reuters/Ipsos poll, only a third of Americans support the current pace of data center construction in the country, and only 14% of respondents said they would like to see such a facility in their area.

In turn, representatives of the sector deny the criticism. Data Center Coalition President Josh Levy stated that companies continue to actively work with local authorities and residents to minimize the negative impact of new facilities and ensure their safe integration into regional infrastructure.

Doesn’t Armenia need water?

And this is when, on the initiative of the Armenian government, Firebird cloud AB, an artificial intelligence company, plans to open a new 100 MW data center in Armenia in 2026. Thousands of Nvidia Blackwell graphics processors will be used to develop Armenia’s “tech industry and global partnerships” and “create new opportunities for innovation and economic growth across the region.”

The government of Armenia plans to acquire $25 million in high-performance computing resources from Firebird AI over a five-year period for the purpose of developing modern artificial intelligence infrastructure in Armenia.

As you remember, the government already at the session of April 30 decided to grant the privilege of exemption from customs duty to “Firebird AI” CJSC as part of the investment program implemented in the priority sector. At that time, it was noted that the value of the goods submitted for the privilege is 26.9 billion drams, and the privilege of exemption from customs duty is 2.6 billion drams.
In one of the last sessions of the government, in the package of unreported issues, the Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan proposed to make changes in the decision N 577-A of April 30, with the justification: “Taking into account that when submitting the application, only those products were included in the list, whose mandatory data was determined and known at the time of submitting the application, currently, for the smooth implementation of the investment project, it is necessary to fill the above-mentioned list with new types of products (with a value of about 3.5 billion drams).

As a result of the implemented change, the total value of goods is 30.4 billion drams. The privilege of exemption from customs duty of the total value is estimated at 2.9 billion drams.

This draft presented in the package of non-reportable matters was adopted.

The government notes that the main goal of the investment program presented by “Firebird AI” CJSC is to establish the most powerful supercomputer and data processing center (Data Center) in the region in Armenia, which will be specialized in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions and high-performance computing (HPC). The main type of activity is: data processing, server domain provision and cloud infrastructure maintenance.

The project will be implemented in Kotayk marz, and within its scope until 2030. it is planned to create 40 new jobs with an average monthly salary of AMD 400 thousand.

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