Global trade war may produce headwinds for nascent AI sector, IEA says

By Forrest Crellin

PARIS (Reuters) – An escalating global tariff war could provide challenges for the emerging data centre sector and cause slower growth, Laura Cozzi, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Director of Technology told Reuters.

The U.S., China and the European Union together are set to account by 2030 for 80% of the forecast growth in data centre demand growth, which is expected to be dominated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) use, the IEA said in a report on Thursday.