Silicon Valley tech companies are massively funding data centers and upgrading them to power generative AI products and contain powerful computer chips. The AI ​​boom is raising concerns that chips and other equipment used today will soon be obsolete, leading to massive electronic waste equivalent to discarding 13 billion iPhones a year by 2030.

Not only are waste and workers affected by AI, but water and energy. The programs are so powerful that it requires enormous amounts of water and energy to keep computer chips from overheating while in use.

Little electronic waste is recycled and most ends up in landfills. Computers and other electronic devices discarded in the West are often sent to low-income countries where workers are exposed to chemicals like mercury and lead as they break down electronics to access other metals.

According to the study, increased AI production would cause global e-waste to increase by 3-12% by 2030, which would amount to 2.5 million tonnes of excess e-waste each year. These calculations are based on researchers predicting that companies will replace their IT systems every three years. The study did not take into account waste that could result from the disposal of other equipment, such as cooling systems.

The computer system used by the researchers for the study is called Nvidia. The company’s 2024 Sustainability Report says it is working to reduce emissions from its data centers and recycle technology used by its employees.

Other companies are also being scrutinized for their carbon emissions. In July, Google announced that its carbon footprint had increased 48% since 2019. In May, Microsoft said its emissions had increased 29% since 2020. Regardless of the increase in emissions, the company said its quarterly spending of $14 billion on data centers will continue to grow despite its goal of making its carbon emissions negative by 2030.

AI programs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT require advanced chips that require a large amount of power. Pressure on U.S. power grids is prompting electricity providers to keep coal-fired plants open and reopen old nuclear reactors to meet AI energy demand. Big tech companies have said they are trying to limit rising carbon emissions, but e-waste has now joined the list of possible AI threats.

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Asaf Tzachor, one of the study’s authors, hopes the research will draw attention to the risks AI technology poses.

“We hope this work will draw attention to the often overlooked environmental impact of AI hardware,” Tzachor said. “AI has tangible environmental costs beyond energy consumption and carbon emissions. »