Power-hungry AI boom making power grids dirtier, less reliable
9 months ago

Power-hungry AI boom making power grids dirtier, less reliable

Salon  

Artificial Intelligence’s rapid boom is causing a surge in demand for electricity that could pose challenges for the grid, and the companies behind the tech. As Bloomberg notes, data centers already consumed more power than entire nations like Italy and Taiwan in 2023, and their energy demand has surged more than seven-fold since 2008, even as chips become more energy-efficient. AI’s power needs will only get worse, per a Boston Consulting Group report, which pinned current power consumption by data centers at 2.5%, and forecasted up to a three-fold rise to 7.5% by 2030. In Texas, for example, where devastating blackouts during a winter storm killed more than 240 people in 2021, a substantial rise in energy demand could mean less reliable energy for everyone. “We want data centers, but it can’t be the Wild Wild West of data centers and crypto miners crashing our grid and turning the lights off.” And while big tech firms may be committed to using green energy, the Washington Post reports that, since they run on the same grid as typical power consumers, these data centers tend to eat up much of the renewable energy available, leaving power providers to source dirty energy to fill in gaps.

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History of this topic

Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators
5 days, 22 hours ago

Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators

Hindustan Times  

By Tim McLaughlin Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators BOSTON - Data Center Alley, a 30-square-mile stretch outside Washington D.C. and home to more than 200 data centers, consumes roughly the same electricity as Boston. The near-miss - reported here in detail for the first time - forced federal regulators to recognize a new …

AI data center with up to 3 gigawatts of power is envisioned for South Korea
1 month ago

AI data center with up to 3 gigawatts of power is envisioned for South Korea

Live Mint  

While the data centers of South Korea now largely meet domestic demand, the country is regarded by investors as having what is needed for a facility with global reach. An investor group is planning one of the world’s largest data centers for artificial intelligence in South Korea, a sign of red-hot AI demand across the globe despite concern about the …

Power stocks had been on an AI tear. Then came DeepSeek.
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Power stocks had been on an AI tear. Then came DeepSeek.

Live Mint  

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has laid bare one of the power sector’s greatest fears: The AI boom might not need nearly as much electricity as anticipated. DeepSeek, a generative-AI model trained using substantially less energy than its American competitors, routed tech and power company shares last week, eroding stock gains spurred by data center growth projections. “As a developer, I …

DeepSeek AI: Difficult yet to predict Chinese AI startup potential impact on power demand, Japan’s METI says
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek AI: Difficult yet to predict Chinese AI startup potential impact on power demand, Japan’s METI says

The Hindu  

Japan's industry ministry is aware of a view that expansion of data centres may increase demand for electricity, however, it is difficult yet to predict how demand may change with the appearance of one technology such as DeepSeek, it said by email. However, the recent emergence of Chinese startup AI DeepSeek, which may use less power compared to competitors, saw …

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI’s energy needs and the climate?
Trending News
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI’s energy needs and the climate?

Deccan Chronicle  

Chinese artificial intelligence startup company DeepSeek stunned markets and AI experts with its claim that it built its immensely popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by American tech titans. It’s been axiomatic that U.S. tech giants must spend much more on building out data centers and other infrastructure to train and run their AI systems. …

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI’s energy needs and the climate?
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI’s energy needs and the climate?

Associated Press  

Chinese artificial intelligence startup company DeepSeek stunned markets and AI experts with its claim that it built its immensely popular chatbot at a fraction of the cost of those made by American tech titans. It’s been axiomatic that U.S. tech giants must spend much more on building out data centers and other infrastructure to train and run their AI systems. …

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI's energy needs and the climate?
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek says it built its chatbot cheap. What does that mean for AI's energy needs and the climate?

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It's been axiomatic that U.S. tech giants must …

DeepSeek is upending Wall Street’s big AI power trade
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek is upending Wall Street’s big AI power trade

Live Mint  

The emergence of Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek has Wall Street reconsidering one of the hottest trades of the past year: providing the energy to power the artificial-intelligence boom. Nuclear-plant owner Constellation Energy and Vistra, which runs one of America’s largest fleets of gas-fueled power plants as well as solar farms, were some of the top performing stocks in the S&P …

DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions

Raw Story  

by Sara HUSSEIN Having shattered assumptions in the tech sector and beyond about the cost of artificial intelligence, Chinese startup DeepSeek's new chatbot is now roiling another industry: energy companies. The AI revolution has come with assumptions that computing and energy needs will grow exponentially, resulting in massive tech investments in both data centers and the means to power them, …

DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions
1 month, 3 weeks ago

DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions

India Today  

Having shattered assumptions in the tech sector and beyond about the cost of artificial intelligence, Chinese startup DeepSeek's new chatbot is now roiling another industry: energy companies. The AI revolution has come with assumptions that computing and energy needs will grow exponentially, resulting in massive tech investments in both data centres and the means to power them, bolstering energy stocks. …

Electricity demand from AI companies to push power demand up by 38% on US power grids
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Electricity demand from AI companies to push power demand up by 38% on US power grids

Firstpost  

The surge in demand is largely driven by the increasing number and size of data centres powering AI technologies. These facilities, which are crucial to the AI boom, are set to consume massive amounts of energy—enough to power entire cities In response to the growing energy needs, President Donald Trump suggested at Davos that new power plants should be built …

Trump to fast-track power-plant applications from AI companies for their data centres
Trending News
2 months ago

Trump to fast-track power-plant applications from AI companies for their data centres

Firstpost  

Trump’s plan involves using a national energy emergency declaration to push through the construction of power plants directly serving AI data centres. This would cut down on the long wait times for building new power plants, allowing AI companies to quickly ramp up their operations The idea behind Trump’s plan is to set up new power plants right next to …

Does AI pose a threat to sustainable development?
2 months ago

Does AI pose a threat to sustainable development?

China Daily  

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY Editor's note: The 2025 World Economic Forum, being held in Davos from Monday to Friday under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age", is expected to foster a spirit of cooperation and optimism in the digital age in a more sustainable way, despite the different positions of the participants and global uncertainties. As a result, the power …

Does AI pose a threat to sustainable development?
2 months ago

Does AI pose a threat to sustainable development?

China Daily  

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY Editor's note: The 2025 World Economic Forum, being held in Davos from Monday to Friday under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age", is expected to foster a spirit of cooperation and optimism in the digital age in a more sustainable way, despite the different positions of the participants and global uncertainties. As a result, the power …

I’ve been working in AI for years – there’s one big problem no one is really addressing
2 months, 1 week ago

I’ve been working in AI for years – there’s one big problem no one is really addressing

The Independent  

At the heart of the fanfare over the government’s unveiling of its AI Opportunities Action Plan – 50 recommendations to supercharge the UK as a new AI superpower – were three central planks: the creation of AI “growth zones” in the UK, the huge expansion of government-owned AI computing capacity, including a new supercomputer; and the creation of an AI …

A new electricity supercycle is under way
2 months, 2 weeks ago

A new electricity supercycle is under way

Live Mint  

The factory floor of Schneider Electric’s plant in Conselve, Italy, hums with urgency. The world’s total energy needs are also continuing to rise—a third force underpinning rising investment in electricity infrastructure. In December America’s Department of Energy provided a$15bn loanguarantee to PG&E, a Californian power utility hit hard by wildfires in recent years, to help it invest in making its …

We need energy for AI, and AI for energy
2 months, 3 weeks ago

We need energy for AI, and AI for energy

Live Mint  

In 1903, Mark Twain wrote that “It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing." As AI usage increases, its energy requirements will rise, and if demand outstrips supply, the technology’s development will be strangled. To allow AI’s development to taper off …

Furious locals in southern data center boom town wage war against tech firms 'eating up their land'
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Furious locals in southern data center boom town wage war against tech firms 'eating up their land'

Daily Mail  

Furious residents in a growing tech boom town have pushed back against Silicon Valley giants 'eating up' their neighborhoods for massive data centers. But experts predict Atlanta's data center power usage will continue to skyrocket to a shocking 4,000 megawatts by 2028 - that's thirty times more than in 2012. Furious residents have pushed back against Silicon Valley giants 'eating …

Generative AI and Climate Change Are on a Collision Course
3 months ago

Generative AI and Climate Change Are on a Collision Course

Wired  

In 2025, AI and climate change, two of the biggest societal disruptors we're facing, will collide. These range from generating colossal amounts of energy to power the data centers that run tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney to the millions of gallons of freshwater that are pumped through these data centers to make sure they don’t overheat and the tons …

Big Tech Will Scour the Globe in Its Search for Cheap Energy
3 months, 1 week ago

Big Tech Will Scour the Globe in Its Search for Cheap Energy

Wired  

On the southern tip of Malaysia lies the state of Johor, renowned for its beaches and mountainous jungle. But Johor has a new boom industry: data centers to power generative AI, with Microsoft committing more than $2 billion on just such a data center. This draw to deliver AI is so powerful that big tech firms are buying dirty power …

Spain, Portugal Power Cost Edge Seen Fueling AI Data Center Boom
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Spain, Portugal Power Cost Edge Seen Fueling AI Data Center Boom

Live Mint  

-- Spain and Portugal’s low-cost renewable energy is fueling investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure that will increase data center power consumption more than eightfold in a decade, according to Aurora Energy Research Ltd. The boom of generative artificial intelligence has already drawn the interest of several companies in Spain and Portugal, which see data centers as a potentially lucrative source …

How to make AI less of a power guzzler
4 months ago

How to make AI less of a power guzzler

Live Mint  

Artificial intelligence is poised to transform both work and everyday life. But it has a dark underside: AI computer centers consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, to power their processing chips and cool the heat they emit. The biggest AI providers, including Amazon, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta and Microsoft, say they are working to be both carbon-neutral and replenish …

AI-Powered Data Center Design: A Paradigm Shift in Efficiency and Sustainability
5 months ago

AI-Powered Data Center Design: A Paradigm Shift in Efficiency and Sustainability

Deccan Chronicle  

The article discusses the importance of advanced power management solutions for data centers to meet the demands of AI technologies. Innovations such as efficient uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, precision cooling solutions, and modular designs are crucial for optimizing energy consumption and reducing environmental impact. The article also highlights the role of edge computing and micro data centers in facilitating …

Tech companies are signing nuclear deals because AI is sucking up too much energy
5 months, 1 week ago

Tech companies are signing nuclear deals because AI is sucking up too much energy

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. And most recently, Amazon has perhaps taken the biggest step of the trio, signing three deals to …

Silicon Valley has a plan to save humanity: Just flip on the nuclear reactors
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Silicon Valley has a plan to save humanity: Just flip on the nuclear reactors

CNN  

A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. Microsoft this month secured a deal to reopen a reactor on Three Mile Island, the site of the 1979 partial meltdown near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to give the company enough power to sustain its AI growth. And while AI doomer predictions often get brushed off as alarmist forecasts, you can’t …

Is artificial intelligence worth all the money and energy it’s guzzling?
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Is artificial intelligence worth all the money and energy it’s guzzling?

Live Mint  

An incident on 28 March 1979 changed the course of energy forever, at least in the US. The reason: to meet its burgeoning need for clean energy for its massive artificial intelligence data centres, as the tech industry balances building giant energy-sucking AI models with its environmental, social and governance goals. The global concern this spawned has led Big Tech …

Letters to the Editor: Don’t let the AI revolution in California be powered by fossil fuels
7 months, 1 week ago

Letters to the Editor: Don’t let the AI revolution in California be powered by fossil fuels

LA Times  

To the editor: As your editorial notes, the dramatic rise in electricity demand from California’s growing number of data centers can cripple our clean energy transition. Putting the debate aside about how essential some AI functions are, it’s clear that we should avoid backsliding on our transition to clean energy by powering these facilities with dirty fossil fuels that pollute …

Crypto Mining, Data Centres to Hit 3.5% of Global Power by 2027
7 months, 1 week ago

Crypto Mining, Data Centres to Hit 3.5% of Global Power by 2027

Deccan Chronicle  

CHENNAI: Crypto mining and data centers together accounted for 2 per cent of world electricity demand in 2022. Further, their carbon emissions could reach 450 million tons by 2027, or 1.2 per cent of the world total, finds the IMF, which wants the tax system to steer companies toward curbing emissions. Crypto mining and data centers together accounted for 2 …

Editorial: Generative AI is an energy hog and that could hurt progress fighting climate change
7 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: Generative AI is an energy hog and that could hurt progress fighting climate change

LA Times  

Artificial intelligence is one of the world’s fast-growing technologies, with Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and others rolling out generative AI models. It’s also one of the most energy-intensive technologies, and that is raising alarm that AI data centers’ thirst for electricity will increase planet-warming emissions and strain the electrical grid. Data centers, or large buildings filled with computer servers, already …

Power-hungry AI data centers are raising electric bills and blackout risk
7 months, 1 week ago

Power-hungry AI data centers are raising electric bills and blackout risk

LA Times  

Near the Salton Sea, a company plans to build a data center to support artificial intelligence that would cover land the size of 15 football fields and require power that could support 425,000 homes. In Santa Clara — the heart of Silicon Valley — electric rates are rising as the municipal utility spends heavily on transmission lines and other infrastructure …

Intel: Too big to turn, too vital to fail
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Intel: Too big to turn, too vital to fail

Live Mint  

The chips are down as never before for Intel. Intel is already the biggest fish in the American pond; the company’s current fabs account for about 41% of the country’s 300 mm wafer production capacity—the type of chip production most commonly used in key market segments—according to market research firm TechInsights. Intel’s data center revenue is projected to hit $12.6 …

Power usage, innovation driven by new infrastructure
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Power usage, innovation driven by new infrastructure

China Daily  

Factory workers at a charging pile manufacturer in Luoyang, Henan province, inspect EV charging piles. China's rapid development of new infrastructure has emerged as a key driver of power consumption, fueling substantial growth in sectors such as 5G, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, said industry experts. Electricity consumption for internet data services, including big data processing, cloud storage, cloud computing …

Power-hungry data centres scrambling to find enough electricity to meet demand
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Power-hungry data centres scrambling to find enough electricity to meet demand

ABC  

Inside a vault of this data centre is what looks like a hotel for computers. "Whether that's networking or just general computer infrastructure," David Dzienciol, chief customer and commercial officer of NEXTDC, told The Business inside a data hall. "We run 14 data centres across the country, servicing customers from the largest multinationals, through to Australia's largest companies all the …

Electricity consumption soars in 2024 with tech and EV growth
8 months ago

Electricity consumption soars in 2024 with tech and EV growth

China Daily  

Driven by the rapid development of mobile internet, big data and cloud computing, electricity consumption for internet data services increased by 33.0 percent year-on-year during the first half of this year, according to the China Electricity Council. The rapid growth of electric vehicles led to a 63.7 percent year-on-year increase in electricity consumption for charging and battery swapping services in …

AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change
8 months, 1 week ago

AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change

NPR  

AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change toggle caption Josh Edelson/Getty Images Researcher Jesse Dodge did some back-of-the-napkin math on the amount of energy AI chatbots use. “And they're willing to pour a ton of resources into that, including things like training AI systems on bigger and bigger data centers all the way …

Google just revealed how damaging AI actually is
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Google just revealed how damaging AI actually is

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The vast energy needs of artificial intelligence are once again under scrutiny after …

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

Associated Press  

Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030. Google cited artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year’s growth. “We know this is not going …

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Google cited artificial intelligence and …

Google blames AI as its emissions grow instead of heading to net zero
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Google blames AI as its emissions grow instead of heading to net zero

Al Jazeera  

Google points to artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on energy-hungry data centres for its growth in emissions. Google cited artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centres, which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year’s growth. “We know this is not going to be easy and that our approach will need to continue to evolve,” …

Texas electricity demand could nearly double in six years, grid operator predicts
9 months ago

Texas electricity demand could nearly double in six years, grid operator predicts

Associated Press  

The state’s main electric grid operator has sharply increased its prediction for how much power demand will increase in coming years. The new estimates raise crucial questions, such as whether large power users that can ramp up and down need greater state oversight, the committee’s chair, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said in an interview. “But I think the most …

ChatGPT’s boss claims nuclear fusion is the answer to AI’s soaring energy needs. Experts say not so fast
11 months, 3 weeks ago

ChatGPT’s boss claims nuclear fusion is the answer to AI’s soaring energy needs. Experts say not so fast

CNN  

CNN — Artificial intelligence is energy-hungry and as companies race to make it bigger, smarter and more complex, its thirst for electricity will increase even further. “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough, we need fusion,” alongside scaling up other renewable energy sources, Altman said in a January interview. Then in March, when podcaster and computer scientist Lex …

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy
1 year ago

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

Live Mint  

HOUSTON—Every March, thousands of executives take over a downtown hotel here to reach oil and gas deals and haggle over plans to tackle climate change. But most everyone agreed the data centers needed to advance AI will require so much power they could strain the power grid and stymie the transition to cleaner energy sources. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest …

Computing power network will match AI's demands, say industry leaders
1 year ago

Computing power network will match AI's demands, say industry leaders

China Daily  

A staff member walks past a screen at the State Key Laboratory of Public Big Data at Guizhou University in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, May 23, 2023. Zhuang Rongwen, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China and chair of the WIC, said at the event that the wide usefulness of big data and AI technology has created a thirst …

New Data-Center Property Investment Signals AI Boom
1 year, 2 months ago

New Data-Center Property Investment Signals AI Boom

Live Mint  

One of the world’s largest data-center developers is getting a $6.4 billion equity infusion, the latest sign that this property sector is booming alongside the rise in artificial intelligence. Vantage Data Centers plans to use the capital from digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group and Silver Lake, a technology investment firm, to add more than 3 gigawatts of capacity globally. This …

How AI could power the climate breakthrough the world needs
1 year, 3 months ago

How AI could power the climate breakthrough the world needs

CNN  

Programming note: Listen to a version of this story on CNN’s One Thing podcast with David Rind. “The way we think about AI is it’s a time and effectiveness multiplier to the solutions for climate change,” Gupta told CNN. “We want to make it easier for people to make better choices.” Finding the right balance There’s a downside to all …

Artificial intelligence could use as much electricity as a small country
1 year, 5 months ago

Artificial intelligence could use as much electricity as a small country

Live Mint  

Currently, artificial intelligence is dominating different spaces, from technology to medicine. In a commentary published October 10 in the journal Joule, author Alex de Vries warned that increased adoption of AI tools in the future could surge its energy footprints so much so that it could exceed the power demands of some countries, a Science Daily report said. Elaborating on …

Tech’s carbon footprint: can AI revolutionize responsibly?
1 year, 6 months ago

Tech’s carbon footprint: can AI revolutionize responsibly?

The Hindu  

Across the globe, data servers are humming, consuming both megawatts and precious natural resources to bring life to our digital world. "Pandora's box is open," said Arun Iyengar, CEO of Untether AI, a highly specialized chip-making company that strives to make AI more energy efficient. The transformation of the world's data servers to AI readiness is already well underway, in …

Can computing clean up its act?
1 year, 7 months ago

Can computing clean up its act?

Hindustan Times  

“What you notice first is how silent it is,” says Kimmo Koski, the boss of the Finnish IT Centre for Science. The International Energy Agency reckons data centres account for between 1.5% and 2% of global electricity consumption, roughly the same as the entire British economy. In 2010, with Dennard scaling confined to the history books, the firm put improving …

Computing power offers new chances for tech firms
1 year, 9 months ago

Computing power offers new chances for tech firms

China Daily  

An employee checks equipment at the computing power center of the national key laboratory of public big data at Guizhou University in Guiyang, Guizhou province, on May 23. As companies roll out innovations, more data development potential is unleashed China's computing power industry will usher in new development opportunities, as major Chinese tech companies have rolled out ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence …

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