With artificial intelligence, you can feel magical. Enter the prompt and the answer will be displayed in a simple way. But magic is an illusion. This prompt uses about 10 times the energy of a standard search. Pulling back the curtains, you discover a vast warehouse of computers with a greedy appetite for energy, water and raw minerals. The new data center is driving the trillion dollar industrial revolution. “This is the biggest infrastructure project in history.” All of this literally hurts the planet. Currently, the environmental impact of AI is growing, and the results are coming home. “My car is gone.” “It's okay. It's okay.” “It's all gone.” Spruce pine is like a secret. It's a small sleepy town in North Carolina. Few people realize how important it is in the AI supply chain. I came here last fall as part of my work to map the hidden costs of artificial intelligence. I have been studying the impact of AI for over 10 years. I didn't understand that, but I was trying to see those costs close and personal. But first, let me show you what I came to see. Beneath us is the main source of high-purity quartz from around the world. 90% of the global supply of this important mineral comes from this five-square-mile quarry. This is what it looks like before it is mined. This is the pegmatite I picked up with the spruce spine. It was formed from rare deposits about 300 million years ago. So, what does this ancient rock have to do with AI? First, quartz from these rocks will be shipped east and to China and Taiwan. Due to its purity and heat resistance, it is essential to produce this. Semiconductor microchip. Perform the millions of calculations needed to run your AI model. But to do this job, they demand a huge amount of electricity and water. Demand is expected to increase dramatically over the next 10 years. “Well, we needed a building. Essentially, we saw abandoned factories, but that — boasts of building the world's largest AI supercomputer in South Memphis. Musk calls it Colossus. As local power grids couldn't support energy needs, the company installed dozens of methane gas generators, releasing nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde into the air. This historically black community has been blind and they are seeking fines and investigations. “Daily people don't do business, but Elon Musk does.” In Virginia, data centers already consume more than a quarter of the state's total electricity. “People utility bills could double in the next 7-10 years just for the power centres of the data center. Pollution is rising and supply is thinning.” Around the world, data centers will soon use as much energy as Japan, and are predicted to fit the use of Indian energy by 2030. It's like adding an entirely new industrial country to the grid. But instead of limiting the environmental impact, this is happening. “Stargate, put that name in your book. A new American company that invests at least $500 billion in US AI infrastructure.” A few days after he pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, President Trump announced plans to build a vast AI data center across the country. “The fact that we can do this in the US is great. Openai's new data center, codenamed project Ludicrous, is currently being built in Texas. At least 20 have been built than Central Park. “More news about Hurricane Helen has come back. It's a very powerful Category 4 storm right now.” A few days after I visited, Katrina hit the deadliest US hurricane. Of course, we are pinning one hurricane on climate change. They can play grassroots fights to protect their land, water and water, which is Washington's choice.
