White House to rally utilities, data centers for AI power cost pledge, sources say

The White House plans to bring together utility companies and data center developers to make a voluntary pledge designed to ‌ensure that rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive up power ‌bills for households and businesses, according to three people familiar with the plans.

An event to announce the initiative is expected ​in the coming weeks, with several companies taking part and vowing to protect current ratepayers from shouldering all the costs of AI expansion. The guest list is still being finalized, the sources said.

Surging demand from power-hungry data centers has prompted regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers in several states to warn that households could end ‌up subsidizing grid upgrades needed to ⁠serve some of the world’s largest technology companies, raising questions over whether the pledge will deliver concrete commitments or remain largely symbolic.

Read more at Reuters