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Environmental groups embrace AI, even as they warn of data center impacts

Environmental groups embrace AI, even as they warn of data center impacts

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Environmental groups worldwide are using artificial intelligence to analyze climate data, track forest fires and count endangered wildlife – embracing a technology they also warn is driving a surge in electricity demand, water use and greenhouse-gas
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European Activists Plan Protests Against Data Center Expansion, Demanding Moratorium

European Activists Plan Protests Against Data Center Expansion, Demanding Moratorium

Campaigners across Europe are organizing two days of coordinated protests on November 6 and 7, calling for an immediate moratorium on new large-scale data center developments. Over 100 groups in 15 European countries will participate in various actions, including demonstrations, public meetings, and petitions. These actions are driven by increasing concerns about the environmental and social impact of the rapid expansion of data centers, particularly regarding their consumption of land, water, and energy resources. The protests follow similar sentiments observed in recent U.S. midterm elections, where restrictions on AI server farms became a prominent campaign issue. Activists argue that governments and tech giants are proceeding with these developments without adequate scrutiny of their environmental, democratic, and social consequences.
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AI Firm Cohere Promotes AI for Increased Oil and Gas Production, Raising Environmental Concerns

AI Firm Cohere Promotes AI for Increased Oil and Gas Production, Raising Environmental Concerns

AI Firm Cohere Promotes AI for Increased Oil and Gas Production, Raising Environmental Concerns
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Berkeley Center for New Media Hosts 'Below the Cloud' Symposium on AI's Environmental and Social Impact

Berkeley Center for New Media Hosts 'Below the Cloud' Symposium on AI's Environmental and Social Impact

The Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) is hosting 'Below the Cloud,' a symposium and participatory workshop focused on the environmental and social infrastructures of artificial intelligence. This initiative challenges the common perception of the 'cloud' as an immaterial entity, instead highlighting the tangible demands AI places on resources such as water, energy, and minerals. The event aims to make visible the extensive networks of extraction and infrastructure that underpin contemporary digital technologies. The symposium features an interdisciplinary group of scholars from fields including AI, design, landscape, and environmental studies. A key component is a community workshop where participants will collectively embroider a large map tracing AI's planetary infrastructure, including data centers, mineral extraction sites, and subsea cable landing stations. This tactile approach, using embroidery, offers a deliberate contrast to the speed and opacity of digital systems, fostering reflection and col...
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AI Power Boom Drives Increased Demand in U.S. Carbon Markets

AI Power Boom Drives Increased Demand in U.S. Carbon Markets

AI Power Boom Drives Increased Demand in U.S. Carbon Markets
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Forest Machine Magazine Explores AI's Dual Impact on Forestry: Risks and Benefits

Forest Machine Magazine Explores AI's Dual Impact on Forestry: Risks and Benefits

Forest Machine Magazine Explores AI's Dual Impact on Forestry: Risks and Benefits
VarietyVariety
AI’s Hidden Footprint, From Quartz Mines to Kenyan Click-Workers, Bared in Taiwan Creative Content Fest Doc ‘The Technological Sublime’

AI’s Hidden Footprint, From Quartz Mines to Kenyan Click-Workers, Bared in Taiwan Creative Content Fest Doc ‘The Technological Sublime’

Talk of artificial intelligence tends to float somewhere up in the cloud. “The Technological Sublime,” a documentary from director Jannes Callens that heads to the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei, brings it back down to earth. The film follows the physical supply chain that keeps AI running, starting at quartz mines in the […]
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Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon Discusses Data Center Demand Amidst Industry Growth

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon Discusses Data Center Demand Amidst Industry Growth

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon Discusses Data Center Demand Amidst Industry Growth
AP NewsAP News
Protesters break into Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam as Europe’s backlash spreads

Protesters break into Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam as Europe’s backlash spreads

Protesters have broken into a Microsoft data center construction site in Amsterdam
ReutersReuters
Activists breach Microsoft data centre construction site as protests spread in Europe

Activists breach Microsoft data centre construction site as protests spread in Europe

By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Protesters broke into the construction site of a Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on Friday at the start of two days of rallies that are part of a growing global backlash over the rapid build-out of computing power needed for AI.
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SuperMatics Leverages AI to Transform Superconductor Discoveries into Commercial Wire

SuperMatics Leverages AI to Transform Superconductor Discoveries into Commercial Wire

SuperMatics Leverages AI to Transform Superconductor Discoveries into Commercial Wire
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IRENA Director-General Highlights Infrastructure as Key Bottleneck for Renewable Energy Growth Ahead of COP31

IRENA Director-General Highlights Infrastructure as Key Bottleneck for Renewable Energy Growth Ahead of COP31

Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), has identified infrastructure as the primary impediment to the expansion of renewable energy. Speaking at ADIPEC 2026 in Abu Dhabi, La Camera emphasized that the need for new networks should be a central focus of the upcoming COP31 climate summit, scheduled to open on November 9 in Antalya, Türkiye. He stressed the necessity for governments and multilateral financial institutions to increase development support for these networks. La Camera noted that while renewable generation has grown rapidly in some regions, such as China, the lack of adequate systems to transmit and distribute this power has created inefficiencies. He also highlighted that demand for energy is rising faster than anticipated, partly due to evolving lifestyles and the energy-intensive requirements of data centers supporting artificial intelligence. Despite the goal agreed at COP28 to triple renewable capacity by 2030, La Camera suggested that eve...