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AI’s brave new world is going nowhere without the old

For artificial intelligence to change everything, we’re going to need help from some old-world commodities: copper and uranium

    • AI is devouring baseload power from often carbon-intensive sources at a time when the world’s efforts are focused on installing renewable capacity to meet climate goals.
    • AI is devouring baseload power from often carbon-intensive sources at a time when the world’s efforts are focused on installing renewable capacity to meet climate goals. ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH

    Scott Clements

    Published Sat, Mar 23, 2024 · 05:00 AM

    THE hype around artificial intelligence (AI) has the hallmarks of a classic gold rush: hordes of hopeful prospectors rushing to unearth the treasure, no matter the cost.

    But more people prospered from selling picks, shovels and pans during the 1849 California Gold Rush than from finding nuggets.

    If AI is today’s gold rush, then data centres are its picks and shovels. And investors should look to the old-world commodities – especially uranium and copper – that are essential for those data centres and the AI-driven economy they enable.

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