Signal Estimating the growth in emissions from AI data centres

Summary

A preprint paper quantifies the carbon emissions expected from the expansion of AI data centres. The authors note that the rise of agentic AI is driving unprecedented growth in data centre buildout. They apply life-cycle assessment models covering both operational and embodied emissions from AI servers to estimate the resulting increase in overall carbon dioxide emissions. The paper states that its main contribution lies in rigorously quantifying emissions tied to AI data centre expansion based on current infrastructure growth trends. As a result, the study can be seen as an attempt to put concrete figures on the environmental cost of spreading agentic AI.