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AI infrastructure costs

The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger

Report warns AI data center e-waste could reach 23 million shipping containers by 2050, vastly exceeding prior estimates.

E-waste from the AI boom has been vastly underestimated, a new report warns. By 2050, it could become enough trash to fill 23 million shipping containers - roughly enough 40-foot containers to circle the world six times if lined up in a row. It's a significantly higher estimate of AI's e-waste than previous studies have found because the authors of the new report factor in all the infrastructure needed to support servers in data centers. The broader scope provides a clearer picture of junk AI leaves behind, according to the nonprofit Basel Action Network (BAN), which published the paper today. "AI may feel weightless, but every model dep …