Bill Gates: “Let's not go too far with concerns about AI's energy consumption”

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Bill Gates has defended the surge in energy use caused by artificial intelligence systems, arguing that the technology will eventually offset huge amounts of electricity consumption.

Speaking in London, Gates urged environmentalists and governments not to “overreach” concerns about the massive amounts of electricity needed to run new AI systems, as tech giants such as Microsoft race to invest tens of billions of dollars in giant new data centers.

Data centers will increase global electricity use by 2-6 percent, the billionaire said.

“The question is, will AI accelerate reductions beyond 6 percent? The answer is, absolutely,” said Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who is heavily invested in companies developing sustainable energy and carbon-reduction technologies.

Microsoft acknowledged in May that its greenhouse gas emissions have increased by nearly a third since 2020, largely due to data center construction.

Gates, who stepped down from Microsoft's board of directors in 2020 but remains an adviser to CEO Satya Nadella, said tech companies will pay a “green premium,” or higher prices, for clean energy as they seek new sources of power, which he said helps drive its development and deployment.

“Tech companies are the ones that are prepared to pay a premium and help build out green energy capacity,” he said at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in London on Thursday.

Breakthrough Energy Group, founded by Gates and whose investors include Jeff Bezos, Masayoshi Son and Jack Ma, has investments in more than 100 companies developing sustainable energy and other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Speakers at the London event included Prince William, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and US climate change diplomat John Podesta.

Major tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Google have outlined plans to spend tens of billions of dollars building out the computing infrastructure needed to run AI systems around the world.

But power supply constraints are already posing challenges for companies looking to build new technologies.

A report released by the U.S. Department of Energy in April said AI is “projected to be the largest driver of data center-related load growth in the U.S. in the foreseeable future.”

While companies like Amazon and Microsoft have long-term power purchase agreements with wind and solar producers, those contracts “typically do not match hourly electricity demand with local resources,” the Department of Energy said, meaning the agreements “cannot guarantee that all electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions will be offset.”

The Electric Power Research Institute said in May that data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity production by 2030, more than double current levels.

While he argued that tech companies were driving the adoption of green energy, he said one of their biggest concerns was “ensuring there is enough electricity” to meet growing demand while also cleaning up vast sectors such as cement and steel.

“The amount of green electricity needed for the transition is not going to be delivered as quickly as needed,” he said.

For this reason, he argued, the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is unlikely to be achievable, and “it may be more realistic to wait another 10 or 15 years.””