For years, artificial intelligence has been governed by a simple creed: Bigger is better. Feed a model more data, more chips and more electricity, and it will become smarter.

That has been true to a certain extent, especially in an industry obsessed with building “superintelligence,” or all-knowing computer systems. But this scaling approach has also produced a hefty environmental toll, one that is fast becoming a political liability as communities from Malaysia to the MAGA heartland push back against new data centers.

© Bloomberg