Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab has signed agreements with two U.S. electric utilities to reduce its AI data center power consumption during times of surging demand on the grid, the company said on Monday, as energy-intensive AI use outpaces power supplies.
Utilities in the country have been inundated with requests for electricity for Big Tech’s AI data centers, with demand eclipsing total available power supplies in some areas.
That power crunch has led to concerns about spiking bills for everyday homes and business and blackouts.
It has also complicated the technology industry’s expansion of AI, which requires massive amounts of electricity – fast.
Google’s agreements with Indiana Michigan Power and Tennessee Power Authority would involve scaling back power use at the technology giant’s data centers when called upon by the electric utilities to free up space on the grid.
They are the first formal agreements by Google in demand-response programs with utilities to temporarily curtail its machine learning workloads, a subset of artificial intelligence.