AI data boom in Mexico fuels rise in dirty energy

M exico is attracting ever more sprawling data centers but a shortage of renewable energy means Big Tech is pumping oil, firing up gas generators and using diesel to fuel the global boom in artificial intelligence (AI).



The shortfall in green power - despite pledges by industry and government to grow capacity - has overloaded the country's existing power infrastructure and exacerbated local pollution.



"It's a lot easier to just pump more oil than it is to get an entire industrial-sized solar system built quickly," said Masheika Allgood, founder of AllAI Consulting, which informs on the environmental impact of data centers.



A Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation has found that renewable energy infrastructure in Mexico is not growing anywhere near fast enough to meet the rising demands of AI, forcing companies in Queretaro state, epicenter of the boom, to rely on fossil fuels.