This talk explores the urgent need to consider the environmental impact of new technologies through the lens of the infrastructure that sustains them.

Using the recent Regulation 2024/1689 on harmonized rules for artificial intelligence(AI Act) as a case study, the talk argues that the Act represents a missed opportunity to address the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure. Despite AI’s reliance on vast computational resources, the regulation makes no reference to the physical infrastructure—such as data centers—that enables AI’s training and deployment.

What are the regulatory blind spots when we overlook infrastructure? How might an infrastructural approach offer a more effective framework for addressing the environmental challenges of emerging technologies? Drawing from ongoing PhD research at the EUI, the talk will argue that the regulation of data centers could provide a more comprehensive and impactful strategy for mitigating the environmental impact of AI and other digital technologies.