How often do you use AI?
Chances are — a lot more than you think.

MIT researchers found that ChatGPT is now the 5th most visited website in the world. That’s billions of queries a month — and all of that computing power requires a lot of electricity.

According to Barron’s, the soaring electricity demand from AI-powered data centers is driving a massive resurgence in natural gas use, especially in America.

Here’s why this matters:

• This trend is a quiet reversal of climate progress, happening under the radar while governments and corporations still claim to support net-zero goals
• Natural gas is fossil fuel—cleaner than coal, but still emits CO₂ and leaks methane, a greenhouse gas 80x more potent in the short term
• Despite climate pledges, utilities are building new natural gas plants at record levels
• Big tech companies pushing for a “green” image are ironically fueling fossil fuel growth, as their AI operations require vast, reliable power — and renewables alone can’t meet the surge (yet)

The U.S. is now planning 183 GW of new natural gas power, more than any year since 2017.

Bottom line: The global race for AI dominance is creating new emissions pressures and undermining climate targets in an insidious way — by locking in decades of new natural gas infrastructure. It’s a classic example of short-term gains vs. long-term climate consequences.