California and the EU Move to Rein In the Environmental Cost of AI
A global crackdown on the water and energy use of the artificial intelligence sector is picking up speed. This week government officials in California and the European Union both announced new policies to help track and limit the runaway resource use of hyperscalers as the threat of AI’s environmental impact looms ever larger. By the end of this decade, artificial intelligence will consume as…
The environmental costs of artificial intelligence are increasingly coming under scrutiny as governments move to rein in the sector's water and energy consumption. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a series of bills requiring data centers to disclose their water usage, energy efficiency, and drought contingency plans.
The legislation also mandates that data centers fund grid upgrades in the areas where they operate. Meanwhile, the European Union's European Commission has introduced rules mandating that data centers report their energy and water usage, as well as the relationship between water consumption and local water stress. The EU's move is timely, as the bloc intends to triple its data center capacity within seven years to maintain technological independence.
Both policy initiatives aim to increase transparency and set the stage for future regulations that may cap resource use. However, measuring the sector's current environmental impact remains challenging due to its high opacity. Nonetheless, policymakers are responding to the call for responsible AI use, recognizing the potential for the technology to cause disproportionate environmental harm.
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