In the race against China for AI supremacy, the United States dominates when it comes to access to the most cutting-edge semiconductors.But when it comes to powering the huge data centres that run on AI chips, China holds the clear advantage.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThat’s because data centres, the sprawling computing facilities needed to train and run AI models, require vast amounts of energy.A typical data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while next-generation “hyperscale” facilities can gobble up as much power as two million homes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).China’s access to an abundant supply of cheap electricity places it in the ideal position to meet such colossal energy demands.China already generates more than twice as much electricity as the US, a lead that is expected to widen amid an aggressive state-led investment in the country’s energy grid.BloombergNEF, a research provider, estimates that China will add more than six times as much electricity generation capacity as the US over the next five years.Much of that extra capacity will be in the form of renewables such as solar and wind.In 2025 alone, China increased its wind and solar power capacity by more than 430 gigawatts, accounting for more than half of the additional capacity in the renewables added globally that year. Tibetan sheep graze at a solar farm in Hainan prefecture, Qinghai province, China on July 1, 2025 [F …
