AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers’ energy use

A view of Meta’s data center in Clonee Co Meath, Ireland. Picture date: Tuesday June 13, 2023.  | Photo by Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images

Data centers could gobble up twice as much electricity by 2026 thanks in large part to cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

We rely on data centers to store all our emails, photos, cat videos, and everything else floating around in the cloud. More and …

artificial artificial intelligence center crypto cryptocurrencies data data center data centers driving electricity energy getty getty images images intelligence ireland meta mining part photo tuesday via view