AI boom could leave an e-waste trail that wraps 6 times around Earth

AI infrastructure could generate enough electronic waste by 2050 to fill a line of shipping containers stretching around Earth six times, according to a report that argues existing estimates drastically understate the problem. Previous estimates have focused chiefly on servers and accelerators such as GPUs, which account for just 13 percent of a datacenter's equipment by weight, the report says. Once power, networking, cooling, and other infrastructure are included, the total could be 40 to 60 times higher than the most widely cited academic projections. The report identifies five equipment categories comprising networking, power distribution, backup power systems, servers plus accelerators, and cooling. Together, these add up to about...

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