By Tyler Tucker
Artificial Intelligence has developed rapidly in recent years. Between 2017 and 2024, the percentage of companies using at least one AI component has increased from 20% to 78%.[1] Today, over 34 million AI images are created daily, and 71% of social media images are AI-generated.[2] This rapid development of AI is causing significant environmental impacts.
AI development has increased the demand for rare earth metals to manufacture advanced computing components.[3] Mining these critical materials increases the release of harmful emissions, damages the environment, causes ecological deterioration, and can lead to increased soil erosion.[4] China is the primary supplier of critical materials, producing around 70% of rare earth materials worldwide and processing around 90% of rare earth materials. [5] [6] China’s role in the global supply chain represents a risk to American AI superiority and economic dominance, especially after recently implemented tariffs on Chinese goods.
AI also requires a large amount of energy and water to function. AI searches like ChatGPT currently use 10 times more electricity than a standard Google search.[7] AI models use data centers to store and process the information these models use.[8] Data centers use water to prevent overheating.[9] Data centers use about 9 liters of water per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy.[10]
This number increases to 43.8L/kWh when considering indirect water usage by power plants to generate electricity.[11] Data centers already account for 1% - 2% of global energy use, which could rise to 21% by 2030, given the increased energy consumption used by AI.[12] According to a Department of Energy report, data centers energy use increased from 58 terawatt-hours (TWh) (58 billion kWh) in 2014 to 176 TWh (176 billion kWh) in 2023, using around 1.6 trillion liters (423 billion gallons) of water.[13]
The Department of Energy expects energy consumption to increase to between 325 TWh (325 billion kWh) and 580 TWh (580 billion kWh) by 2028, which would use up to 5.2 trillion liters (1.37 trillion gallons) of water.[14] With almost half of the global population expected to face severe water stress by 2030, water scarcity is a preeminent global issue that is greatly exacerbated by increases in AI use.[15]
America currently has no comprehensive regulation addressing the environmental impacts of AI.[16] A bill titled Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 was read before the United States Senate on February 1, 2024.[17] The Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 sought to “reduce the negative environmental impacts of artificial intelligence, including using more efficient models, hardware, and data centers, using renewable energy, and examining the impacts of artificial intelligence applications.”[18] There has been no action taken on the bill since it was read before the Senate in 2024, and the bill is unlikely to be passed by the current Trump administration.
References
[1] Alex Singla, Alexander Sukharevsky, Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, and Bryce Hall, The State of AI: How Organizations are rewiring to capture value, Mckinsey & Company (Mar. 12, 2025), https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai
[2] Bernard Marr, 15 Mind-Blowing AI Statistics Everyone Must Know About Now, Forbes (Mar 10, 2025), https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2025/03/10/15-mind-blowing-ai-statistics-everyone-must-know-about-now/
[3] Robert A. James, Ashleigh Myers and Kelsey Parker, AI Needs Critical Materials, Fast! But From Where?, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (Jan. 6, 2025), https://www.gravel2gavel.com/ai-critical-materials/#:~:text=AI%20hardware%20relies%20on%20familiar,of%20data%20at%20high%20speeds.
[4] Can We Mitigate AI’s Environmental Impacts?, Yale School of the Environment (Oct. 10, 2024), https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/can-we-mitigate-ais-environmental-impacts#:~:text=The%20mining%20and%20production%20of,when%20not%20disposed%20of%20correctly.
[5] James, supra note 7
[6] Richard Pallardy, Is AI Driving Demand for Rare Earth Elements and Other Materials?, Information Week (February 11, 2025), https://www.informationweek.com/machine-learning-ai/is-ai-driving-demand-for-rare-earth-elements-and-other-materials-
[7] Durwood Zaelke and Paul Bledsoe, AI is the future of tech, but its effects on the climate could change everything, The Hill (Feb. 15, 2025), https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/5141625-tech-ai-energy-climate-emissions/
[8] Emil Sayegh, The Billion-Dollar AI Gamble: Data Centers As The New High-Stakes Game, Forbes (Sep 30, 2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilsayegh/2024/09/30/the-billion-dollar-ai-gamble-data-centers-as-the-new-high-stakes-game/
[9] Cindy Gordon, AI Is Accelerating the Loss of Our Scarcest Natural Resource: Water, Forbes (Feb 25, 2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/cindygordon/2024/02/25/ai-is-accelerating-the-loss-of-our-scarcest-natural-resource-water/
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Beth Stackpole, AI has high data center energy costs — but there are solutions, MIT Sloan (Jan 7, 2025), https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ai-has-high-data-center-energy-costs-there-are-solutions
[13] DOE Releases New Report Evaluating Increase in Electricity Demand from Data Centers, U.S. Department of Energy (Dec 20, 2024), https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-new-report-evaluating-increase-electricity-demand-data-centers
[14] Id.
[15] Gordon, supra note 11
[16] AI Watch: Global regulatory tracker - United States, (Dec 18, 2024), White & Case LLP https://www.whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/ai-watch-global-regulatory-tracker-united-states
[17] Text - S.3732 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024, S.3732, 118th Cong., U.S. Congress (2024), https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3732/text
[18] Id.