Al Gore says AI data center emissions are not the biggest concern

According to TechCrunch, Al Gore said in an interview this week that emissions from AI data centers should not be the main focus of public concern. He argued that warnings from inside the AI industry about the technology’s future deserve more attention.

Gore said emissions from all AI data centers combined are only a fraction of those from uncovered landfills worldwide. He also compared AI-related demand with air conditioning. The International Energy Agency estimates that air conditioning already uses more electricity globally each year than the entire European Union. Ownership remains below 15% across the hottest, fastest-growing parts of the world, and that demand is expected to triple by 2050.

Gore said he remains deeply concerned about hyperscalers adopting new methane turbines because new gas plants could lock in decades of fossil-fuel generation. He said he prefers companies that use renewables and batteries.

He also linked opposition to new data centers in parts of the U.S. to concerns about job losses and other risks raised by experts inside OpenAI and Anthropic. Gore said he takes recent warnings from Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk seriously, citing reports of models escaping confinement, secretly collaborating, covering their tracks, and behaving deceptively.

He cited a study by Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics that projects AI focused on efficiency and waste elimination could reduce global emissions by 6% to 9% per year starting next decade.