Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks we won’t be able to meet our climate goals. At a recent AI+Energy Summit, Schmidt said he doesn’t believe we are organized enough to achieve big targets, like the U.S. reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Instead, he thinks we should invest more in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, which he says could help solve the energy problem – but only if we are willing to make some trade-offs.

Don't Miss:

• A billion-dollar investment strategy with minimums as low as $10 — you can become part of the next big real estate boom today.

• This Adobe-backed AI marketing startup went from a $5 to $85 million valuation working with brands like L'Oréal, Hasbro, and Sweetgreen in just three years – here's how there's an opportunity to invest at $1,000 for only $0.50/share today.

AI's Rising Energy Demand

AI is growing quickly, resulting in a huge energy demand. According to Schmidt, data centers – the facilities that power AI – will need much more electricity in the coming years. These centers need a steady power supply and as AI systems get more advanced, the need for energy will keep increasing. Schmidt said that if we don't improve our energy infrastructure, the U.S. might run out of enough power for these demands within the next four years.

Schmidt admits that these energy-hungry AI systems could make it even harder to meet climate goals. But instead of slowing down AI growth to save energy, he thinks investing in AI could be the key to solving some of our biggest environmental challenges.

Trending: The global games market is projected to generate $272B by the end of the year — for $0.55/share, this VC-backed startup with a 7M+ userbase gives investors easy access to this asset market.

Betting on AI Instead of Conservation

At the AI summit, Schmidt said bluntly: "We’re not going to hit the climate goals anyway because we’re not organized to do it." He explained that while there are ways to make data centers more efficient, like using better batteries and reducing power losses, those measures won’t be enough to keep up with AI’s fast growth.

Instead of scaling back, he believes we should push AI development to find solutions that traditional methods can’t provide.

Nevertheless, he says, “Because it’s a universal technology and because it’s the arrival of an alien intelligence, something we don’t understand, we may make mistakes concerning how it's used. But I can assure you that we’re not going to get there through conservation.”