CIOInsider India Magazine
AI & Energy: A Crisis in the Making?
Just the other day, my 65-year-old mother needed to write an application for a PNG connection. In a normal scenario, she would hound me for days to write the application.
This time, I played smart. I introduced my mother to our trusted pal, ChatGTP. She approached the friendship with reluctance.
But after some coaxing, my mother typed in her requirements into ChatGPT, and voila, the application was ready in a jiffy.
My mother was surprised and happy in equal measures. So was I. And all because of our trust friend, ChatGPT.
This incident opened my eyes to how intricately AI has become embedded into our everyday lives.
From a home maker looking for recipes to a millennial planning a holiday to a bank running complicated tasks in automation, AI is everywhere.
But this convenience comes at a cost. Widespread AI usage is contributing to rising energy demand, especially through large data centers. The growing infrastructure and electricity challenge is already worrying experts and making tech giants take note.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates global data center electricity use grew sharply in 2025, with AI-focused data centers growing even faster.
It has been estimated that global data center electricity consumption could rise from 448 TWh in 2025 to 980 TWh by 2030 (Gartner).
In some regions, AI data centers are becoming large enough to stress local power grids. There are strong warnings across the U.S., Australia, and Europe about grid strain and rising infrastructure costs tied to AI related data center expansion.
Are we moving towards a future marred by energy crisis caused by wide spread AI usage?
In the current edition of CIOInsider, we tackle the aforementioned concern. In our cover story we delve into India’s growing AI Energy reliance. We also take a look at how big tech giants like Meta and Google are approaching this phenomenon.
To know more, read the current edition of CIOInsider.
Let us know your thoughts.
