Consulting firms say that as AI gets cheaper, power demand could keep climbing

AI costs are falling, and the pressure on demand is rising. BackyardProduction/Getty Images AI costs are falling as models and tokens get cheaper , according to reports from BCG and McKinsey. Lowering costs may increase pressure on the electric grid as companies use AI on more tasks. BCG found that companies that manage token spend efficiently see the greatest returns with AI. AI is getting cheaper to use, but as companies use it more, we're bound to see more pressure on the electric grid . In two new reports published this week, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group said that as companies move beyond experimenting with chatbots and start using AI across more parts of their businesses, cheaper models and falling token prices could make it easier to justify more frequent, higher-volume AI use — and that could pose a problem for the grid.