<ul><li>Tech companies should be required to report energy and water consumption for their data centres to address the environmental impact of AI growth, according to a report by the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC).</li><li>AI systems and services are rapidly expanding and pose a significant environmental risk due to their high energy demands. Without considering resource efficiency, the development, deployment, and use of AI could cause irreparable damage to the environment.</li><li>Google and Microsoft have reported year-on-year increases in data centre water consumption. Mandatory environmental reporting should be expanded to set sustainability requirements for data centres.</li><li>Policymakers need to collect reliable data on the quantity of resources used by data centres, provide information on environmental impacts of AI systems, and reconsider data management practices.</li></ul>

Call to make tech firms report data centre energy use as AI booms

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