EU's AI compute build-out could raise energy risk, warns think tank | Euractiv

Push for cloud sovereignty risks deeper reliance on fossil fuel imports, says The Shift Project

The Europe Union’s push to build-out AI capacity could drive up reliance on foreign fossil fuel suppliers, raising strategic risk, warns decarbonisation think tank The Shift Project.

The think tank is preparing to send an advocacy document to EU legislators warning that the EU’s Cloud and AI Development Act (CAIDA) could increase dependence on fossil fuel imports from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait or the US.

The EU’s focus on a cloud sovereignty agenda must not be allowed to sweep over the physical reality of what’s required to sustain more digital infrastructure on European soil, The Shift Project’s Maxime Kiener told Euractiv.

Without adequate planning, the EU risks deepening its reliance on foreign producers “whose strategic interests do not necessarily align with those of the European Union”, he added.