The growth in data center power usage predates the current trend for generative AI, with the majority of energy being used for more common internet infrastructure. Dutch researcher Alex de Vries estimates that AI could account for 0.5% of the world's electricity demand by 2027, a significant amount but still only a small fraction of the energy projected to be used by data centers as a whole. For comparison, PC gaming was estimated to use 75 TWh of electricity per year in 2018, similar to the projected energy use of AI.
Key takeaways:
- Recent articles from Bloomberg and The Washington Post have highlighted concerns about the energy consumption of artificial intelligence (AI), citing it as a potential threat to power infrastructure and efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage.
- However, the actual numbers and projections cited in these articles primarily focus on the energy used by Internet data centers as a whole, not just AI. These data centers have been growing in size and energy usage for years, powering a wide range of services.
- Research by Alex de Vries estimates that the AI sector could use between 85 to 134 TWh of power in a few years, which is a significant amount but still only a small fraction of the 620 to 1,050 TWh projected to be used by data centers as a whole by 2026.
- The energy consumption of AI is comparable to other common activities, such as PC gaming, which was estimated to use 75 TWh of electricity per year in 2018.