Newsletter 4: Power, Water, Politics, and the Perils of AI Companionship
From looming U.S. power shortages and rising household energy bills to Mistral’s sobering emissions and water-use data, this edition explores the expanding resource footprint of AI’s growth. We track how data centres are straining grids, how water use is becoming an overlooked sustainability risk, and whether AI’s technical promise can be redirected to enable Net Zero rather than lock in extractive growth. We look at the rising role of Geopolitics in AI with the U.S.–China chip deal blurring security and commercial lines, Europe’s new voluntary AI Code of Practice, and the most disturbing frontier yet: Meta’s leaked chatbot standards, which raise alarms about child safety and the social risks of treating machines as “friends.”
1. AI & the “Artificial Energy Crisis”
AI’s rapid growth is pushing U.S. energy systems to the brink. The Department of Energy warns that Northern Virginia … Business Insider.
2. The Water Question
AI’s environmental toll is not confined to electricity – its water footprint is emerging as an equally pressing challenge. Mistral’s 123B Large 2 model consumed 74.2 million gallons of water during training – closely matching independent estimates … whether governance can keep up with transparency and accountability on water will determine if this risk is managed – or left to spiral as with energy.
3. Options to Challenge AI’s Resource Demands
While Mistral’s tracker revealed … The core issue is whether AI is deployed to advance Net Zero, or whether rapid expansion will lock the sector into continued extractive growth.
4. Geopolitics and Chips
The economic impact of rapid growth has laid bare the rising overlap between AI and geopolitics. The U.S.–China chip deal … Sokler et al. (2025).
5. Europe’s Voluntary Code of Practice & From Fiction to Fallout: When AI ‘Friends’ Cross the Line
On 2 August, the European Commission’s voluntary Code of Practice … With echoes of Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel … Reuters investigation revealed leaked Meta guidelines …
Final Thought
The clash between AI’s explosive growth and the systems meant to contain it – energy, environmental, and now social governance – is no longer a distant concern; it is unfolding in real time. From strained power grids and soaring water use to chatbots marketed as “friends” for children, the risks are expanding beyond infrastructure into the fabric of human connection itself…
Read more here
AI Brief (2025) … Read more
Bathgate, R. (2025) … Read more
Betancourt, M., Scott, E. and Ndep, N. (2025) … Read more
Kiser, U. (2025) … Read more
Meles, T.H. (2020) … Read more
Sokler, B.D., Arkin, A. and Williamson, J. (2025) … Read more
Timis, D. (2025) … Read more
