AI boom risks flooding planet with 'millions of tonnes of e-waste'

The world produces close to 50 million tonnes of e-waste every year as consumers and businesses throw out their old smartphones, computers and household appliances – material worth an estimated €55 billion. AFP/File

Researchers are warning that generative AI could drive a massive increase in e-waste – up to five million tonnes per year by 2030 – worsening the global toxic trash crisis.

The explosive growth of generative artificial intelligence, which creates content like text, images, audio and synthetic data, is expected to add millions of metric tonnes of electronic waste annually by the end of the decade, a study in Nature Computational Science has said.