The AI boom took over Climate Week and not everyone is happy about it

AI 热潮席卷气候周，并非所有人都为此感到高兴

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … I’ll spare you the rest, but the cliché Dickens line really does sum up this year’s New York Climate Week. Much of the climate tech community — like the rest of the U.S. economy — is eagerly riding the AI wave. 这是最好的时代，也是最坏的时代……其余的话我就不赘述了，但这句老掉牙的狄更斯名言确实概括了今年的纽约气候周。气候科技界的许多人——就像美国经济的其他领域一样——正热切地乘着 AI 的浪潮。

Some have reservations about the sheer quantity of natural gas power plants being built to power AI data centers. But because many climate tech startups are energy-focused or energy-adjacent, the buildout has been embraced as an opportunity to get companies through the valley of death. 一些人对为 AI 数据中心供电而兴建的大量天然气发电厂持保留意见。但由于许多气候科技初创公司专注于能源或相关领域，这种建设热潮被视为帮助公司度过“死亡之谷”的机遇。

The singular focus also means some promising sectors risk being overlooked. It’s a continuation of a trend that’s emerged over the last year. As climate tech companies struggled to get financing — either because of canceled federal grants or investor hesitancy — those that could change their pitch to match the AI mania did so. 这种单一的关注也意味着一些有前景的领域面临被忽视的风险。这是过去一年出现的一种趋势的延续。由于联邦拨款取消或投资者犹豫不决，气候科技公司在融资方面举步维艰，那些能够调整商业计划以迎合 AI 狂热的公司便顺势而为。

The pivot has helped many climate tech startups land fresh funding from investors. Total venture deal value has risen for four consecutive quarters, cresting the $14 billion mark in the first quarter of this year, according to the most recent available data from PitchBook. It’s the best fundraising environment for climate tech in the last few years, with most of the deal value driven by sectors boosted by data center construction, including the built environment, grid infrastructure, and dispatchable energy that can be turned on or off when it’s needed. 这种转型帮助许多气候科技初创公司获得了投资者的最新资金。根据 PitchBook 的最新数据，风险投资总额已连续四个季度增长，并在今年第一季度突破了 140 亿美元大关。这是气候科技领域近年来最好的融资环境，大部分交易额由受数据中心建设推动的行业所驱动，包括建筑环境、电网基础设施以及可按需启停的调度能源。

It’s an opportunity few have wanted to pass up. One exchange during a panel at New York Climate Week captured the moment: Two founders, when asked whether they’d prefer the AI buildout to proceed at its current pace or at a more climate-responsible speed, said without hesitation that faster was better. Unsurprisingly, both of their startups were in energy. 这是一个很少有人愿意错过的机会。纽约气候周期间的一场小组讨论中的一段对话捕捉到了这一时刻：当被问及是希望 AI 建设以当前速度推进，还是以更符合气候责任的速度推进时，两位创始人毫不犹豫地表示越快越好。不出所料，他们的初创公司都属于能源领域。

And yet not everyone agrees. I heard from several founders who felt that the data center boom was distracting from other promising segments of climate tech, including those that were meeting their targets without having to rely on AI mania. “Corporates are still interested in climate,” one founder told me. The difference today is that large companies don’t want to crow about it, mostly for fear of drawing the Trump administration’s ire. 然而，并非所有人都认同这一点。我从几位创始人那里了解到，他们认为数据中心的繁荣分散了人们对气候科技其他有前景领域的注意力，包括那些无需依赖 AI 狂热就能实现目标的领域。“企业仍然对气候问题感兴趣，”一位创始人告诉我。如今的区别在于，大公司不想大肆宣扬，主要是担心招致特朗普政府的不满。

There were also signs that the AI boom was beginning to wear thin on some. For many startups, money for scaling was hard to find three years ago, even if they were showing promising results. Now, customers are clawing their way into demos. “Where was this money three years ago?” I asked several people. I received more than a few knowing eye rolls in reply. It’s the world they live in these days, they acknowledged. The smart entrepreneurs are all finding ways to meet customers where they are. 也有迹象表明，AI 热潮开始让一些人感到疲惫。对于许多初创公司来说，三年前即使展现出良好的成果，也很难获得扩张资金。而现在，客户却争先恐后地要求演示。“这笔钱三年前在哪里？”我问了几个人。我收到了不少心照不宣的白眼作为回应。他们承认，这就是他们如今所处的世界。聪明的企业家都在设法迎合客户的需求。

Ultimately, the undercurrent at New York Climate Week was that the data center party won’t last forever, but it might last long enough to help startups build durable businesses. Once that happens, they can refocus on the carbon-cutting mission they were founded to pursue. 归根结底，纽约气候周暗流涌动，人们意识到数据中心的狂欢不会永远持续下去，但它或许能持续足够长的时间，帮助初创公司建立起持久的业务。一旦实现这一点，他们就可以重新专注于创立之初所追求的减碳使命。