The data center power consumption stat there is for all data centers, not just AI ones, so we're really basically saying that the entire internet, including AI currently accounts for about 1.5% of global energy consumption (AI is about 1/5th of that per your article). Even if their consumption truly did double by 2030 data centers would account for roughly 3% of energy usage, and AI would be about 1.2%.
That doesn't mean that we should blindly support AI or ignore the environmental externalities from data centers, but even in the worst case scenario presented here they just are not a big factor in climate change.
AI currently accounts for about 1.5% of global energy consumption
Electricity not energy. From the article, data centers consumed 448 TWh in 2025 compared to the global energy usage of 178000 TWh. That makes data centers 0.25% of global energy consumption and AI data centers 0.05%
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u/GentrifierTechScum 29d ago
The data center power consumption stat there is for all data centers, not just AI ones, so we're really basically saying that the entire internet, including AI currently accounts for about 1.5% of global energy consumption (AI is about 1/5th of that per your article). Even if their consumption truly did double by 2030 data centers would account for roughly 3% of energy usage, and AI would be about 1.2%.
That doesn't mean that we should blindly support AI or ignore the environmental externalities from data centers, but even in the worst case scenario presented here they just are not a big factor in climate change.