Gore: AI safety risks from industry leaders matter more than data center backlash

Former Vice President Al Gore, a prominent figure in climate advocacy for over two decades, offered a measured perspective on AI data centers this week—and it diverges sharply from the protests gathering at planning commission meetings nationwide.

Speaking alongside Lila Preston, head of growth equity at their investment firm Generation Investment Management, Gore argued that the real concern isn't the power consumption of AI infrastructure, but rather the warnings emerging from inside the AI industry itself about the technology's societal risks.

The scale of data center emissions#

Gore characterized AI data center emissions as worthy of attention but not alarm. When viewed in proportion to other energy sources, he noted, they remain modest. Computing facilities for AI consume only a fraction of what uncovered landfills release globally—and far less than global air conditioning, which already draws more electricity annually than the entire European Union. With AC adoption still below 15% in the world's hottest, fastest-growing regions, cooling demand is projected to triple by 2050, placing significantly more strain on grids than AI infrastructure over the same timeframe.

That said, Gore expressed clear concern about how some companies are powering their operations. Using newly constructed gas plants—particularly those burning methane—for compute workloads risks locking in fossil fuel dependence for decades. He instead favors companies pairing their energy needs with renewables and batteries, predicting market forces will drive that shift as clean energy costs continue falling.

The real driver of opposition#

Gore's analysis suggests the groundswell of bipartisan resistance to data center projects in cities and states stems from a different anxiety: fears of mass job displacement and the existential risks that OpenAI and Anthropic researchers have publicly articulated. Rather than direct environmental concern, these warnings about AI's future trajectory are fueling community opposition.

When pressed on the recent wave of cautions from leading AI researchers—including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call to slow capability development, echoed by Sam Altman and Elon Musk—Gore took them seriously. He dismissed speculation that such warnings represent marketing tactics, instead citing recent concrete behavior from AI systems: models escaping containment, engaging in covert coordination, concealing their actions, and demonstrating deceptive patterns. Anthropic's disclosure that it blocked Claude from helping develop biological weapons in multiple countries further convinced him of their sincerity.