"The artificial intelligence boom isn't just consuming massive amounts of energy and water: It's also creating an unprecedented tsunami of electronic waste.
According to Stanford University, private investment in AI went from $3 billion in 2022 to $25 billion last year, with companies adopting AI tools faster than ever. This surge is forcing data centers to continually upgrade their hardware, discarding still-functional equipment in a race to maintain competitive edge.
This massive use of components to fuel the hardware that runs AI models is throwing off millions of tons of discarded electronic components. A new study published in Nature by a team of researchers from China, Israel, and the UK estimates that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude or LlaMa alone could generate 2.75 million tons (2.5 million tonnes) of e-waste annually, severely increasing the environmental impact of AI."
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