Franzen) sued AI companies for using their work to train generative AI.[195][196] Another discussed
approach is to envision a separate sui generis system of protection for creations generated by AI to ensure
fair attribution and compensation for human authors.[197]
The commercial AI scene is dominated by Big Tech companies such as Alphabet Inc., Amazon, Apple
Inc., Meta Platforms, and Microsoft.[198][199][200] Some of these players already own the vast majority of
existing cloud infrastructure and computing power from data centers, allowing them to entrench further in
the marketplace.[201][202]
In January 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released Electricity 2024, Analysis and Forecast
to 2026, forecasting electric power use.[203] This is the first IEA report to make projections for data
centers and power consumption for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. The report states that power
demand for these uses might double by 2026, with additional electric power usage equal to electricity
used by the whole Japanese nation.[204]
Prodigious power consumption by AI is responsible for the growth of fossil fuels use, and might delay
closings of obsolete, carbon-emitting coal energy facilities. There is a feverish rise in the construction of
data centers throughout the US, making large technology firms (e.g., Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon)
into voracious consumers of electric power. Projected electric consumption is so immense that there is
concern that it will be fulfilled no matter the source. A ChatGPT search involves the use of 10 times the
electrical energy as a Google search. The large firms are in haste to find power sources – from nuclear
energy to geothermal to fusion. The tech firms argue that – in the long view – AI will be eventually
kinder to the environment, but they need the energy now. AI makes the power grid more efficient and
"intelligent", will assist in the growth of nuclear power, and track overall carbon emissions, according to
technology firms.[205]
A 2024 Goldman Sachs Research Paper, AI Data Centers and the Coming US Power Demand Surge,
found "US power demand (is) likely to experience growth not seen in a generation...." and forecasts that,
by 2030, US data centers will consume 8% of US power, as opposed to 3% in 2022, presaging growth for
the electrical power generation industry by a variety of means.[206] Data centers' need for more and more
electrical power is such that they might max out the electrical grid. The Big Tech companies counter that
AI can be used to maximize the utilization of the grid by all.[207]
In 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that big AI companies have begun negotiations with the US
nuclear power providers to provide electricity to the data centers. In March 2024 Amazon purchased a
Pennsylvania nuclear-powered data center for $650 Million (US).[208] Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said
nuclear power is a good option for the data centers.[209]
In September 2024, Microsoft announced an agreement with Constellation Energy to re-open the Three
Mile Island nuclear power plant to provide Microsoft with 100% of all electric power produced by the
plant for 20 years. Reopening the plant, which suffered a partial nuclear meltdown of its Unit 2 reactor in
1979, will require Constellation to get through strict regulatory processes which will include extensive
safety scrutiny from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If approved (this will be the first ever US
re-commissioning of a nuclear plant), over 835 megawatts of power – enough for 800,000 homes – of
Dominance by tech giants
Power needs and environmental impacts