UN -Chef is urging AI companies to concentrate on renewable energy
The head of the United Nations called on Tuesday about the rising artificial intelligence sector to prioritize sustainable energy for running powerful data centers.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that a typical AI-data center sites where data is processed used the same amount of electricity as 100,000 regular houses.
With a thriving AI development, those requirements also grow fast. The biggest data centers will “use the current question 20 times soon,” said Guternes, and “by 2030, data centers can consume as much electricity as the whole of Japan does nowadays.”
“This is not sustainable,” Guterres said. “The technology sector must be at the front. Today I call on every large technology company to feed all data centers with 100 percent renewable energy sources.”
And the UN boss noted that the artificial intelligence industry itself could be used to help with some of the improvements needed.
“AI can stimulate efficiency, innovation and resilience in energy systems and we have to make a profit. But it is also energy -hungry,” he said.
According to a new UN report, data centers are currently accounting for 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption. That is set to more than double by 2030.
“This is not sustainable unless we make it that way,” said Guternes.
