Elon Musk is backing Nvidia’s pushback against one of the biggest criticisms of the AI boom: water usage. As concerns grow over the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, Nvidia $NVDA pointed to Manhattan Institute data showing data centers account for just 0.2% of daily water usage in the U.S. The company said newer cooling systems are making that footprint even smaller. Musk shared Nvidia’s post on X and gave it a one-word endorsement: “True.” The Tesla $TSLA and SpaceX $SPCX CEO’s reaction adds weight to Nvidia’s argument that AI data centers may not be the water drain many people assume. Nvidia says newer AI facilities using 45-degree Celsius liquid cooling can rely on dry coolers instead of traditional cooling towers. In favorable climates, that can reduce cooling-related water use from roughly 2.6 million gallons per megawatt annually to near zero. The company also said its upcoming Rubin-generation AI infrastructure will be its first fully liquid-cooled platform. Nvidia’s Ali Heydari said the DSX reference design for AI factories has zero water consumption. Water is becoming a major flashpoint in the AI infrastructure buildout. Amazon $AMZN disclosed its data centers used about 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, even as it said its efficiency was better than industry averages. The debate is not going away. As AI demand surges, investors, policymakers and local communities are watching water, power and infrastructure strain more closely.