AI data center outrage is showing up everywhere from ads to elections

In an aerial view, the Decker Creek Power Station is seen on July 28, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesDuring a brainstorming session earlier this summer, a group of comedians and employees at beverage company Liquid Death kicked around an idea for a brazen new advertising campaign that would humorously shed light on the amount of water required to operate massive artificial intelligence data centers. "It was an idea of just, hey, what if we used pee to cool data centers instead of water?" Andy Pearson, vice president of creative at Liquid Death, told CNBC in an interview.The outlandish idea turned into a collaborative 90-second video, created with Garage Beer, which is owned by Jason and Travis Kelce. The clip pledges to "send your pee to the AI data center of your choice."Liquid Death and Garage Beer dropped the video on Tuesday, the same day voters in Florida headed to the polls to vote in the gubernatorial primaries, with the leading Republican candidates focused on data centers as a central issue. Rep. Byron Donalds, President Donald Trump's pick to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, won easily to move along to November's general election. Last month, Donalds introduc...