Elon Musk warns of AI energy shortage and regulatory hurdles

Elon Musk has called for a lighter regulatory approach to new technologies and artificial intelligence, warning that the European Union’s high level of regulation hinders innovation. Speaking at a G20 meeting in North Carolina, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO argued that new technologies should be considered legal by default rather than illegal by default to avoid slowing progress.

Musk also highlighted an impending energy crisis related to AI development. He noted that AI chip production is growing at an annual rate of 40-50%, while energy availability outside of China is only increasing by 10-20% per year. He predicted a significant energy shortage of at least 15 gigawatts for AI chips by 2027. Due to current energy supply difficulties, companies such as Google and Anthropic are reportedly renting computing power from SpaceX.