On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) took X and said they are investigating whether tech giants Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) are indirectly making U.S. households pay for their AI data centers.
Warren Sounds Alarm Over Rising Consumer Costs
Warren raised concerns that “big tech companies like Amazon and Meta may be passing the costs of building and operating their data centers on to YOU.”
She added that ordinary consumers could be shouldering billions in electricity costs while the companies reap profits. “You could be bankrolling the electricity costs of trillion-dollar tech companies.”
Warren shared a New York Times report detailing how her office, along with Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), sent letters to Amazon, Meta, Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and three other tech firms asking for details on their data center energy use and contracts with utility companies.
Responses are due by Jan. 12.
Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
See Also: Here’s How Much You Would Have Made Owning Meta Platforms Stock In The Last 10 Years
Data Centers’ Growing Energy Appetite
The senators cited concerns that AI data centers are forcing utilities to spend heavily on power grid upgrades, costs that are typically recovered by raising rates for all customers.
Contracts between data centers and utilities are often confidential, leaving the public in the dark about why electricity bills are rising, the report said.
Data centers already account for roughly 5% of U.S. electricity use, a number expected to climb as AI adoption expands. McKinsey & Co. projects that this share could more than double over the next five years, with data centers potentially accounting for up to 40% of all new electricity demand by 2030.
AI Boom And Global Energy Race
Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a pause on new AI data center construction, arguing that the rush benefits billionaires rather than working families.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Futurum CEO Daniel Newman suggest that energy capacity, not just semiconductors, may decide the AI race.
Recent data shows China has been adding electricity generation—especially solar—at a pace far exceeding the U.S., highlighting a growing global energy gap that could influence AI leadership in the coming years.
Benzinga Edge Rankings place Meta in the 91st percentile for quality, with other metrics providing a clear comparison against peers like Amazon and Google.
Read Next:
Photo Courtesy: Sheila Fitzgerald on Shutterstock.com
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Recent Comments