{"text":[[{"start":8.6,"text":"The UK’s AI data centres could be more than a hundred times more damaging to the climate than previously estimated, the government has announced. "}],[{"start":16.5,"text":"The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology this week corrected its forecast for greenhouse gas emissions from AI compute for the next decade, which had been based partly on work by the consultancy McKinsey. "}],[{"start":29.55,"text":"Last year the government said annual greenhouse gas emissions from AI compute would be at least 0.025 MtCO₂ — equating to 0.25 MtCO₂ over the decade to 2035 — compared to an estimate this week of at least 34 MtCO₂."}],[{"start":47.8,"text":"AI data centres are now expected to account for between 0.9 and 3.4 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions in the decade to 2035. Last year the government said they would make up less than 0.05 per cent of the total."}],[{"start":64.44999999999999,"text":"The forecasts for water consumption from AI have also risen. "}],[{"start":68.6,"text":"Tim Squirrell, head of strategy at Foxglove, a tech-focused campaign group, said that the government’s legally binding commitment to hit net zero emissions by mid-century sat “awkwardly alongside its hell-for-leather embrace of a hyperscale AI data centre build-out”. "}],[{"start":85.05,"text":"Data centres need round-the-clock reliable power even when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. AI-enabled data centres globally have been particularly reliant on burning gas for energy, due to power-intensive processors that train and deploy more advanced models."}],[{"start":102.35,"text":"The government has pledged to largely run the UK’s power system on clean energy by the end of the decade. But it has also acknowledged that in practice this will mean retaining some gas-fired power."}],[{"start":114.19999999999999,"text":"Squirrell accused the government of “nonsense magic beans thinking that you can have massive data centre growth without a corresponding increase in new polluting carbon emissions”. "}],[{"start":123.44999999999999,"text":"Two non-profits, Carbon Brief and Foxglove, last month warned that the government was underplaying the climate fallout of data centre growth by underestimating the need for gas power."}],[{"start":134.1,"text":"The government did not explain why earlier estimates needed such a significant correction. A person close to the DSIT attributed the changes to “routine review”. "}],[{"start":145,"text":"For the original estimates, the government commissioned McKinsey to provide a 10-year projection of future demand and supply for AI computing. Cambridge Econometrics, a consultancy, then helped do the environmental analysis. "}],[{"start":158.15,"text":"The estimates were drawn from “a combination of academic literature, grey literature, and government projections”, as well as assumptions about future scenarios where needed, a report said."}],[{"start":168.45000000000002,"text":"It also warned of a potential shortage in AI compute over the next decade and made the case for government intervention to support AI growth."}],[{"start":177.4,"text":"OpenAI put its flagship UK data centre project on hold earlier this month, blaming high energy costs and regulatory uncertainty. "}],[{"start":186.20000000000002,"text":"McKinsey and Cambridge Econometrics did not immediately respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":198.85,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777252200_5678.mp3"}