LSN : News : Stat: AI boom set to double data centre energy use by 2030

Pepsi uses AI to let diners customise dishes in São Paulo

Your Bites, Your Rights by Pepsi, Brazil

Brazil – Pepsi is inviting diners to co-create bold new dishes with its AI-powered campaign Your Bites, Your Rights. Launched at Pirajá, a Rio-style bar and restaurant in São Paulo, the experience swaps traditional menus for tablets, letting guests mix ingredients via voice command.

From sausage stroganoff to vegan moqueca sandwiches, the AI tool generates digital dish images, which chefs then bring to life in real time. The campaign, developed by creative agency Ampfy, aligns with Pepsi’s Better With brand positioning by spotlighting experimental food pairings.

‘The Your Bites, Your Rights campaign brings Pepsi’s irreverence to the table and shows the brand as a choice full of personality,’ said Diego Bastian, head of carbonated beverages marketing at PepsiCo Brazil, in a press release. ‘From the surprise of the AI-generated images to the excitement of tasting something completely new, this action redefines brand experience.’

For more insights on the role AI is already playing in the food industry, read our analysis of Dutch Design Week 2024: AI Nourished Foodscapes.

Strategic opportunity

Consider prototyping an AI-powered co-creation experience by trialling tools that let customers personalise products or services, from meals and fashion to playlists

Birth of womb transplant baby marks a milestone in fertility innovation

UK – The first British baby born to a mother with a transplanted womb has been safely delivered. Grace Davidson, 36, gave birth to her daughter, Amy, in February 2025 – two years after receiving her sister’s uterus in the nation’s first successful womb transplant.

The birth follows a complex 17-hour surgery in 2023, carried out by a team of over 30 medics at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. Grace, who was born with MRKH syndrome and previously lacked a functioning uterus, conceived on her first round of IVF. She hopes to have a second child, pending medical approval. The transplanted womb will then be removed, allowing Grace to stop taking daily immunosuppressants.

The surgical team, led by consultant Isabel Quiroga and supported by the Womb Transplant UK charity, now plans to perform up to 15 transplants as part of a clinical trial.

In Family in 2050, we explored artificial wombs as an alternative means of reproduction for those who can’t – or choose not to – reproduce biologically. Our Gen Alpha Now and Next report analyses how fertility innovations such as artificial or transplanted wombs could allow future generations to renegotiate traditional life stages.

EctoLife is a conceptual artificial womb facility created by biotechnologist and film producer Hashem Al-Ghaili, Germany

Strategic opportunity

Adapt internal policies and brand messaging to reflect and support non-traditional paths to parenthood such as womb transplants, fostering inclusivity and building deeper trust with modern families

Stat: AI boom set to double data centre energy use by 2030

Google DeepMind, Global

Global – Data centres are on track to consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity by 2030, more than double their 2024 usage and equivalent to Japan’s current annual consumption, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The surge is primarily driven by artificial intelligence (AI), which accounted for 15% of total data centre energy demand in 2024.

Although data centres made up 1.5% of global electricity consumption in 2024, that figure is expected to rise sharply. The IEA warns that the US, Europe and China are responsible for 85% of current data centre energy use, while infrastructure delays could affect 20% of future centres.

Researcher Alex de Vries told Nature the report underestimates AI’s impact: ‘We should be mindful about how much energy is ultimately being consumed by all these data centres,’ says de Vries. ‘Regardless of the exact number, we’re talking several percentage [points] of our global electricity consumption.’ While most new capacity is expected to come from renewables, gas-fired plants in the US will also expand. As De Vries notes: ‘We’re going to increase our reliance, or at least extend our reliance, on fossil fuels.’

For more insights on AI’s carbon footprint, read our The Synthocene Era: Far Futures report.

Strategic opportunity

Explore opportunities to reduce data centre energy consumption. Could you implement green AI initiatives, for instance, or partner with renewable energy providers to power your data centres?