Energy
Getting energy public policy right is essential to advancing people-centered AI development. Our energy policies must be grounded in science and designed to create good jobs. We must harness the power of AI to accelerate breakthroughs in fusion, energy-efficient quantum computing chips, smart grid technologies, and the rebuilding of our energy systems. Few industries hold greater potential for a people-centered AI transformation than energy.
Please see Energy section in AI Education & Tools here for more.
"Meta and Microsoft are working to fire up new nuclear power plants. OpenAI and President Donald Trump announced the Stargate initiative, which aims to spend $500 billion—more than the Apollo space program—to build as many as 10 data centers (each of which could require five gigawatts, more than the total power demand from the state of New Hampshire). Apple announced plans to spend $500 billion on manufacturing and data centers in the US over the next four years. Google expects to spend $75 billion on AI infrastructure alone in 2025." We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard.
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"The incredible uncertainty in the clean energy sector is leading to a lot of projects being canceled or downsized, or just slowed down, " says Jay Turner , a Professor of Environmental Studies at Wellesley College. $8 billion of US climate tech projects have been canceled so far in 2025
"AI could also be an incredibly powerful tool for the energy sector. It is already helping energy companies optimize their approaches to exploration, production, maintenance and safety – and if AI tools are applied broadly, huge amounts of electricity transmission capacity could be unleashed without building a single new line. This, too, will require strong collaboration between the public and private sector on key issues such as building digital skills in the energy workforce." Energy and AI
Bill Gates
Co-Founder
Gates Foundation
Microsoft
"If you know how to build a fusion power plant, you can have unlimited energy anywhere and forever. It’s hard to overstate what a big deal that will be. The availability and affordability of electricity is a huge limiting factor for virtually every sector of the economy today. We’re on the cusp of massive breakthroughs, and it’s clearer now than even before." Gate Notes
AI-driven energy efficiency measures and smart grid technologies could generate up to $1.3 trillion in economic value by 2030. Furthermore, AI has the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 5-10% – an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of the entire European Union. - Energy and AI: the power couple that could usher in a net-zero world