AI hope and fear narratives converge on the same ask: more data centers and power
Wrong-Expression6981 · reddit · 2026-09-20
The author notes that AI's optimistic and doomsday narratives both conclude we need more compute and electricity. Per IEA data, data-center electricity use rose 17% in 2025 while AI-focused centers rose 50%, and global data-center power is expected to roughly double from 485 TWh (2025) to 950 TWh by 2030. Rather than only asking how powerful AI will become, the author suggests asking who benefits from the belief that massive infrastructure must be built first.
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