Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our lives, revolutionizing industries and transforming the way we live and work. However, the training and deployment of these models can require huge amounts of energy, as well as water to cool servers. This has led to increasing concerns about the sustainability of AI and the environmental impact of the technology, particularly in light of hugely complex generative AI models.

In response to these concerns, on 1 February 2024, the Federal Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 was introduced by Senator Markey and co-sponsored by several senators. The bill addresses the need to assess and mitigate the environmental impacts of AI technologies and emphasizes the importance of understanding both the positive and negative effects of AI on the environment, aiming to promote transparency and accountability in the development and use of AI systems. In this blog post, we outline the key things you need to know about the AI Environmental Impacts Act.