According to TechFlow, the energy competition between artificial intelligence (AI) and BTC mining is heating up. While technology companies are improving AI, they are also competing with BTC miners for energy, reshaping the energy consumption in the United States.

AI data centers are leading the energy consumption race: By 2027, these projects are forecast to consume between 85 and 134 terawatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy consumption of Norway or Sweden in a year.

Each complex AI model runs on large server farms, and if ChatGPT were to run for every Google search, it would take an estimated 500,000 servers, consuming about 29.2 terawatt hours per year.

BTC mining consumes 120 terawatt hours of energy per year, accounting for 0.4% of global electricity last year. Analysts predict that by 2027, AI's energy demand will exceed BTC mining, and 20% of electricity capacity will shift to AI.

Technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft are actively vying for energy assets that were once controlled by miners in the crypto asset space. Competition is heating up, with some mining operators earning cash by leasing and selling power infrastructure, while others face the risk of losing power supply.

Data centers are expected to consume 9% of all U.S. electricity by the end of this decade, more than double the current level. Crypto asset mining is more dependent on renewable energy, with about 70% of energy consumption coming from green energy, while AI data centers rely primarily on fossil fuels.

According to the International Energy Agency, the combined energy consumption of AI and BTC mining will surge to 1,050 terawatt hours, equivalent to the electricity consumption of a country, by 2026. Whether AI and BTC mining can coexist depends on the ability of these industries to innovate and adapt to sustainable energy solutions.