Yet, despite the risks, AI’s rapacious appetite for electricity could actually help spur crucial investment in clean energy. At a moment when the U.S. government has abandoned its support for these efforts, AI companies can provide the capital to bring down the cost of early-stage and still costly technologies needed to achieve a net-zero energy system. Just last month, for example, Google announced that as part of a new natural gas power plant, it would build a first-of-its-kind commercial-scale carbon capture and storage project. This means Google will be paying a premium that will speed the commercialization of a technology crucial for decarbonization .

Technology firms are increasingly drawing the ire of environmentalists and climate-conscious lawmakers . Soaring power demand for data centers is spurring new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure, notably natural gas power plants and pipelines, feeding fears that artificial intelligence will derail global decarbonization efforts. Ten top New York Democrats, for example, urged Gov. Kathy Hochul last month to reject a controversial gas pipeline project, even as the organization responsible for managing New York’s grid warned of power shortages due to the growth of data centers and semiconductor facilities.

Technology firms are increasingly drawing the ire of environmentalists and climate-conscious lawmakers. Soaring power demand for data centers is spurring new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure, notably natural gas power plants