Source: European Parliament
The initiatives of the artificial intelligence (AI) Continent Action Plan[1] are aligned with the EU Green Deal. The hosting sites of the AI Factories were notably selected on sustainability criteria. The AI Factory initiative emphasises green computing through energy-efficient supercomputers, dynamic power saving methods, and advanced cooling systems. The AI Factory in Jülich will be built around the JUPITER Exascale Supercomputer, whose first module currently is the world’s most energy-efficient system[2]. Additionally, the Commission will hold dialogues with consortia interested in launching sustainable AI Gigafactories.
Moreover, the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act will create the incentives to build sustainable data centres. It will aim to advance research and innovation in resource-efficient data processing infrastructures, software, and services that enable the development and adoption of AI. This includes research to improve the integration of data centres into energy and water systems. Likewise, the announced strategic roadmap for digitalisation and AI in the energy sector will propose measures to facilitate the sustainable integration of data centres into the energy system, and the forthcoming Water Resilience Strategy will look at reducing water footprint.
The AI Act[3] requires providers of general-purpose AI models to document the computational resources used to train the model and known or estimated energy consumption[4]. The Commission, through its AI Office, is currently steering the development of a code of practice with commitments on how to implement those rules[5]. Further voluntary codes of conduct will be drawn up in the future, including as regards environmental sustainability of AI systems[6].
- [1] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/ai-continent_en
- [2] https://top500.org/lists/green500/.
- [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/oj/eng.
- [4] See point (a) of Article 53(1) and points (d) and (e) of Annex XI(2) AI Act.
- [5] See Article 56 AI Act. According to Article 56(9) AI Act, this code of practice should be ready in May 2025, in anticipation of the rules for general-purpose AI models entering into application on 2 August 2025 according to point (b) of Article 113 AI Act.
- [6] See point (b) of Article 95(2) AI Act.