MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The energy consumption of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers will increase significantly in 2026 to 1,050 terawatt-hours, comparable to the largest national economies, like Russia or Japan, Sergey Rybakov, General Director of the Nature and People Foundation and program director of the Vostok discussion club, told TASS.
"Special attention is being paid to the issue of creating new data centers. According to various estimates, there are already thousands of them in the world - and this number is projected to double in 2026. At the same time, their electricity consumption will approach 1,050 terawatt-hours, which makes their energy consumption comparable to the level of the largest national economies, for example, Japan or Russia," said Rybakov.
Researchers estimate that by 2028, some AI tasks will consume to 165-326 terawatt-hours per year, or more than all the electricity currently used by the data centers in the United States - this is enough to provide electricity to 22% of American households annually.
"Recent reports show that 4.4% of all energy in the United States is now spent on data centers. The energy volumes needed to run artificial intelligence are staggering, and the world's largest technology companies are prioritizing the development of even more energy, while rebuilding the energy networks of entire countries," said Rybakov.