What may sound like a startling revelation, and a concern for sustainability experts, Google’s ex-CEO Eric Schmidt made a claim before the Congress of the United States of America (USA) that AI will soon consume 99% of the world’s electricity. During a testimony to the House and Commerce Committee, he shared his thoughts on how powerful AI may grow soon and what implications it may have on the energy sector.
How soon? Schmidt said that AI will need additional 29 gigawatts of electricity by 2027 and 67 additional gigawatts by 2030. The latter figure is equivalent of what 50 million homes collectively consume. The urgency in Schmidt’s words were clear as he said that the world needs to scramble renewable, non-renewable and all alternative sources of energy to power this AI boom. This grows urgent as the adoption of AI in daily life is increasing by leaps and bounds, and each query to platforms like ChatGPT result in data centers consuming electricity to get your work done. The servers behind the AI engines also generate massive amounts of heat and extensive cooling systems are required to manage the high temperatures, leading to additional energy consumption.
Data centers worldwide already account for 1% of electricity consumption. With that figure expected to grow meteorically from 1% to 99% implies that AI companies may struggle to comply with emission norms. And the increasingly competitive race of AI supremacy between different nations can further exacerbate the issue.
Some experts have divergent views, as they claim the projection of 99% energy consumption to be an inflated figure and a means for Schmidt to scare the lawmakers so well that they do not hand over the reins of AI development to the government. As part of what’s called “corporate capture”, companies try to keep the governments away from their business by painting a picture that the governments are not ready for. However, Schmidt’s claims have certainly rattled the energy experts and advocates of climate action, as AI consuming vast amounts of electricity is certainly going to be a concern sooner than later.
