Artificial Intelligences Energy Paradox 2025

Images: Getty ImagesDisclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2025 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.Contents Reading guide 3 Foreword 4 Executive summary 5 Introduction 6 1 Electricity consumption of AI 7 1.1 The AI life cycle 7 1.2 The role of data centres 8 1.3 Opportunities to reduce AI system electricity consumption 9 2 AI-enabled energy transition 11 2.1 Non-exhaustive example opportunities for AI-enabled 11 electricity reduction 2.2 Sample use cases 12 3 Primary challenges and ecosystem enablers 14 3.1 Infrastructure challenges 14 3.2 Environmental challenges 14 3.3 Overview of ecosystem enablers 15 3.4 Regulatory and policy enablers 16 3.5 Financial incentive enablers 16 3.6 Technological innovation enablers 17 3.7 Market development enablers 17 4 Future outlook of AI energy impact 18 4.1 The deployment and collaboration landscape 18 4.2 AI and energy – 2024 to 2025 outlook 22 Conclusion 23 Contributors 24 Endnotes 26 Artificial Intelligence’s Energy Paradox: Balancing Challenges and Opportunities 2