President Trump's embrace of fossil fuels could lead to even more oil and gas-powered AI data centers. Credit: J. David Ake/Getty ImagesShareSome of the biggest names in tech came together this week to announce Stargate, a project they say will receive $500 billion in investment for US-based artificial intelligence infrastructure. The joint venture, spearheaded by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aims to rapidly build out colossal new data centers crucial to future AI development. It will also prop-up new electricity plants needed to power these notoriously energy-intensive AI models.Stargate already has the blessing of newly-inaugurated president Donald Trump who this week said he has plans to unleash the US fossil fuel industry. Looser regulations on oil and gas extraction will make fossil fuels the obvious, cheapest choice to power Stargates ambitious AI agenda. American AI companies, some of which have publicly committed to offsetting carbon emissions with green energy sources, may now be poised to double down on fossil fuels during a second administration. Drill baby drill is coming for AI.What is Stargate?Donald Trump discussed how Stargate might play out during a press conference Tuesday night. Standing beside him were three of the plans key architectsOracle Co-founder Larry Ellison, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. In theory, the project aims to open up $500 billion in funding to build out new, US-based data centers meant to power AI in the coming years. SoftBank is the primary funder of the entity, and OpenAI will be responsible for the projects operations. Critics, including close Trump ally Elon Musk, have questioned whether or not the companies can actually secure the amount of investment theyve promised. Regardless, Stargate partners say they are already deploying $100 billion to build out the first set of data centers in Texas. Writing in a blog post this week, OpenAI said the multiyear efforts could ultimately create hundreds of thousands of US jobs and secure American leadership in AI.I think this will be the most important project of this era, Altman told Trump during the Tuesday press conference. We wouldnt be able to do this without you, Mr. President.All of that development cant come soon enough for AI firms. Companies, both in the US and abroad, are racing to ship products and constantly upgrade their AI capabilities. That all requires troves of data and servers which need to be housed in energy-intensive data centers. A Goldman Sachs forecast released last year estimated that data centers like these could account for 8 percent of total US electricity consumption by 2026, up nearly threefold from just 3 percent in 2022. To put that in perspective, The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates power demand from AI and cryptocurrency together will likely add at least one Sweden or at most one Germany in terms of electricity demand by next year. Those estimates were made prior to Trumps 2024 win. Now, with the presidents vocal support of Stargate, the total number of data centers and the electricity they demand may soar even higher.AIs insatiable energy appetiteNewer advancements in generative AI are uniquely responsible for a recent spike in electric usage. AI researcher Jesse Dodge told NPR last year he estimates a single question posed to OpenAIs ChatGPT may require as much energy as it takes to power a lightbulb for 20 minutes. Queries sent to large language models (LLMs), which were trained on trillions of parameters of data reportedly require 10 times the amount of energy as a simple Google search. Energy consumption increases even further with more complex AI-generated content. Studies have shown a single image created by an AI model like DALL-E may require around the same amount of electricity needed to fully charge a smartphone. AI-generated video requires even more electricity.And even though major tech companies like Google and Apple have publicly committed to ambitious renewable energy policy goals, much of this new AI electricity demand is currently being met by coal and natural gas. Google released a sustainability report last year revealing its greenhouse gas emissions had actually shot up 48 percent since 2019, a figure they attributed to further integrat[ing] AI into our products. Microsoft, which supports OpenAI, published its own report admitting its greenhouse gas emissions had risen by 29 percentsince 2020. They arent alone. Analysts at Goldman Sachs say growing energy requirements propelled forward by the broader AI race are leading to power demand the likes of which hasnt been seen in a generation.Nuclear and green energy investments wont cut itTech companies have made some efforts in recent years to try to satiate their growing energy appetite with renewable sources. Collectively, these companies have spent billions on wind and solar projects intended to offset their use of fossil fuels. The biggest players like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are also investing hundreds of millions of dollars into upgrading existing and creating entirely new nuclear power plants. Utility companies are even considering restarting decommissioned reactors to get in on the action as well. In theory, these could one day provide reliable and clean around-the-clock energy to support AIs energy while keeping carbon emissions at bay.But new nuclear plants will take years or even decades to become fully operational. Companies want the extra power now. The AI race isnt waiting for nuclear or even geothermal power to mature. Energy experts previously told Popular ScienceI think that the world is not prepared for what is about to happen in terms of AI demand, Jamie Beard, executive director of Project InnerSpace, a nonprofit focused on promoting geothermal power, told Popular Science.Trumps message to AI: Drill baby drillA new Trump administration is already making it easier to power data centers with fossil fuels. In the three days since being sworn in, President Trump has declared a so-called national energy emergency and committed to rolling back key Biden Administration climate pledges. Trump has already rolled black restrictions on drilling for oil in Alaska, overturned auto emissions standards, and lifted a pause on approvals for applications to export liquified natural gas. Though legally dubious, experts say a first-of-its-kind energy emergency may grant Trump the ability to fast-track new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure which, in turn, could increase energy supply and lower costs for data center owners. All of this, Trump said during his inauguration is meant to unleash the US energy sector despite some analysis suggesting the world might be approaching an oversupply of oil and natural gas.We will drill, baby, drill, Trump said during his inauguration speech. We will be a rich nation again, and it is the liquid gold under our feet that will help us do it.Thats likely all welcome news for data center owners and AI companies looking for cheaper, more readily available electricity. Though members of the Stargate Project have not publicly said where they intend to source the bulk of their energy from, the close connection with the Trump administration and the sheer volume of new infrastructure they are setting out to build makes fossil fuels the obvious choice. Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump, speaking with the Stargate executives Tuesday, said his administration would make it easier for these companies to generate electricity and suggested they could even do so on-site at newly built AI plants.They have to produce a lot of electricity and we will make it possible for them to get that production done very easily, at their own plants if they want, Trump said. At the AI plant they will build energy generation and that will be incredible. Its unclear if building energy operations inside an AI data center is possible in practice.An influx of fossil fuel-powered American AI companies threatens to increase CO2 emissions, raise global temperatures, and upend climate progress made in recent years. Some of AIs biggest supporters argue that this temporary environmental toll might be worth it to further develop a technology that, when matured, could be used to fight the most extreme consequences of climate change. Indeed, some AI models are already being used to increase energy efficiency and improve air pollution monitoring. AI is also playing an important role identifying areas rich in critical minerals needed to manufacture electric vehicles and other lower-emission products. But all of that risks coming at the cost of further warming the planet, which environmental scientists believe contributes to hurricanes, wildfires, and many of the other natural disasters that have become increasingly commonplace in recent years. That can make the AI energy gamble seem less like a logical bet and more like a cynical stumble into an oncoming fire.