Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?

The Verge · 10 hours ago

Data centers powering AI models consume enormous amounts of energy and water while producing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, with GPUs in these facilities now drawing scrutiny for environmental and health impacts. Training Meta's Llama 3.1 could generate air pollution equivalent to 10,000 round-trip car journeys between Los Angeles and New York, and AI data centers' power consumption is projected to reach 165-326 terawatt-hours annually by 2028 in the US. Communities are increasingly concerned as data centers expand in their regions, raising utility costs and local pollution while many consumers question whether promised AI benefits justify the environmental costs.