Huge growth in AI usage could cause electricity blackouts in US from next year
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has warned that the rapid growth in AI usage could lead to power blackouts in the US and Canada as early as next year, as power grids struggle to keep up with the surging demand from data centers powering artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT. The electricity regulators said that North America's electricity grid faces 'critical reliability challenges' as there is a potential shortfall during peak demand periods due to insufficient power generation.