AI may already consume more power than Bitcoin mining, and its deep pockets mean miners face stiff competition for equipment and electricity.
The energy required to run artificial intelligence systems may already be higher than the amount of power used to mine Bitcoin, according to new research.
While that may sound like good news for the Bitcoin mining industry, which is regularly attacked over power consumption, the sting in the tail of the report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute is that AI is shaping up as a fierce competitor to Bitcoin for electricity and equipment.
The sectors deep pockets mean AI companies can afford to outbid miners for the same electricity. With AI offering up to 25 times more revenue than Bitcoin per kilowatt hour (kWh), some miners are adding AI processing to their data centers or even switching entirely from Bitcoin to AI.
