The AI boom is creating an enormous demand for computing power, and the environmental cost is becoming harder to ignore. A new analysis estimates that the 60 largest data centers currently under construction in the U.S. could eventually produce roughly 101.5 million tons of CO₂ annually, comparable to the emissions from 24 million gasoline-powered cars.
This is the uncomfortable side of the AI revolution: building ever-larger models requires an ever-larger energy infrastructure. Tech companies are exploring nuclear power, advanced energy storage and even orbital data centers, but the immediate challenge is finding enough reliable electricity without undermining progress on emissions. AI may transform nearly every industry, but its own energy footprint could become one of the technology’s biggest problems.