Big Tech makes White House pledge to stump up for the increased energy costs of AI and prevent household bills from escalating

Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and "several artificial intelligence companies" signed a pledge at the White House yesterday, dubbed the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” to pay for the cost of powering their data centres, the Guardian reports. But there are questions over the legal authority of the pledge and what it will amount to in practice.

The move reflects concerns in the US that the proliferation of data centres, driven largely by AI, is driving up the cost of electricity for home owners and businesses.