Qatar Airways is reporting $1.2 billion in profits over the past year, buoyed by its role in ferrying fans to the soccer World Cup

By Anirban Sen NEW YORK Some of the world's top investment bankers said on Wednesday that a drop

In Dubai, there are traps set for parents across town — in malls, at beaches and five-star resorts

As earnings season draws to a close, so does the S&P 500 Index’s profit recession. But that doesn’t

Artificial intelligence is using gallons upon gallons of water. Microsoft alone used more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water in its data centres last year. The latest numbers are leading to yet more questions about the sustainability and environmental dangers of the growth of artificial intelligence and related technology. Artificial intelligence requires vast computing resources, undertaking deeply complex calculations on behalf of people around the world. AI systems tend to be run in the cloud rather than on individual people’s computers, meaning that companies running them must operate vast server farms to deal with the queries of their users. Those server farms in turn need to pump in water to cool themselves down, because of the heat generated by those computers. That has long been a concern for environmentalists, but the sharp growth in artificial intelligence has led to even more use. Microsoft’s water consumption rose 34 per cent between 2021 and 2022, according to its latest environmental report, highlighted by the Associated Press. It was up to almost 1.7 billion gallons. Not all of that is from artificial intelligence. But Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside working to better understand the environmental impact of AI told the AP that the “majority of the growth” is because of the technology. Google also said that its water use had increased by 20 per cent over the same period. That varied across its different data centres, which are based in different parts of the US. For each 5 to 50 prompts, or questions, put to ChatGPT, it uses 500 millilitres of water, according to a paper that will be published by Professor Ren and his team later this year. Many technology companies have expressed concerns about their own water use, and how to minimise any negative effects of their data centres. The environmental concerns can be especially pressing because the use of water can be focused in particular areas around a data centre, meaning that the damage may not be spread. Google said last year for instance that “Wherever we use water, we are committed to doing so responsibly”. That includes analysing where water is being used and how much stress it might put on the surrounding area, for instance. Read More AI can help generate synthetic viruses and spark pandemics, warns ex-Google executive China’s ‘government-approved’ AI chatbot says Taiwan invasion likely Google launches AI to go to meetings for you

Sweden has won another bronze medal at the Women’s World Cup with Fridolina Rolfo and Kosovare Asllani scoring in a 2-0 win over co-host Australia

According to Rockwall County jail records, Mitchel Musso was taken into custody on Saturday evening, August 26

Charity Share has helped send hundreds of volunteer therapists to support the country's orphans.

Michael Yeoh had a close shave with death on the sets of ‘Police Story 3: Super Cop’ but lives to tell the tale thanks to Jackie Chan's quick thinking

The leader of Thailand’s Move Forward Party is expected to get a last chance to win parliament's confirmation as the country’s next prime minister

Former President Barack Obama congratulated Coco Gauff on her U.S. Open title, less than two weeks after attending her first comeback of the tournament

By Ismail Shakil OTTAWA Google will remove links to Canadian news from search results and other products in