The artificial intelligence boom that has bolstered California’s economic fortunes also threatens to undo some of the state’s environmental goals as the need for new computing power demands more energy.
Policymakers are wrangling with the competing demands between maintaining the Golden State’s dominance in the sector, where 35 of the top 50 AI companies in the world are headquartered, and its ambitious goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. The demand for increased computing power, driven by AI, has already boosted emissions at major tech companies. For example,