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 much water as 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa, and triple the energy consumption of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria put together , …