According to foreign reports, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that now is the time for us to fully invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure, because climate goals are too lofty to achieve anyway. The AI ​​boom has triggered a spending boom on data centers, which provide the computing power needed to train and run AI models. But the development boom comes at a cost, as data centers consume vast amounts of natural resources.

Data centers are expected to consume 35 gigawatts of electricity annually by 2030, up from 17 gigawatts last year, according to McKinsey.

The Biden administration has set an ambitious goal of making the power sector carbon neutral by 2035 and achieving net-zero emissions for the U.S. economy by 2050. But AI’s huge energy demands are prompting some AI executives to turn to fossil fuels, which could threaten these net-zero goals.

Schmidt made the remarks Tuesday at the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Washington, D.C., where he addressed attendees and expressed his views on the future of artificial intelligence. Schmidt served as Google CEO from 2001 to 2011 and previously served as chairman of the National Security Council on Artificial Intelligence.

Schmidt said at the event that there are ways to curb AI's negative impact on the environment, such as building data centers with better batteries and power lines, but he believes AI's growth will eventually outweigh these precautions.

"All of this is going to be overwhelmed by the huge demand for this new technology," Schmidt told the crowd. "Because it's a universal technology and it's the arrival of extraterrestrial intelligence...we may make mistakes in how we use it, but I can assure you we're not going to do it through conservation."

Speakers pressed Schmidt on whether it would be possible to meet the energy needs of AI without losing sight of conservation goals. Schmidt said he doesn't think we'll meet our climate goals anyway because we're not organized to do it.

"Yes, the demand in this area will be a problem, but I would rather believe that artificial intelligence can solve this problem rather than limit it and create problems," Schmidt said.

In 2022, Schmidt founded White Stork, a defense company developing artificial intelligence drones. In April this year, Schmidt said in a speech at Stanford University that the war in Ukraine turned him into an arms dealer.

He also said that White Stork will use artificial intelligence in sophisticated and powerful ways to conduct these essentially robotic wars.