北京时间7月6日凌晨，2022温网男单1/4决赛上演一场焦点战，赛会头号种子、卫冕冠军德约科维奇经过3小时35分钟的苦战，在以5比7和2比6先丢两盘的情况下，以6比3、6比2和6比2连扳三盘，逆转淘汰10号种子、意大利新锐辛纳。这是德约科维奇第七次在温网上演让二追三的好戏。         Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
Recent media reports have questioned whether a natural gas plant built to power an Amazon data center project in Texas could become the largest climate polluter in the US. The controversy, whatever the eventual outcome, offers a reality check for America's artificial intelligence (AI) drive. 
It exposes a growing contradiction: The US is racing to expand its AI capabilities, yet its protectionist trade policies are making it harder and more costly to access some of the clean-energy technologies needed to sustain that expansion. This raises a broader question: Can an energy-intensive AI race afford the costs of renewable energy protectionism?
The US is entering a new era of rising electricity demand. Data centers, the backbone of the AI economy, are emerging as one of the fastest-growing sources of power consumption. Much of that demand is still being met by fossil fuels: The International Energy Agency reports that natural gas supplies more than 40 percent of the electricity used by data centers in the US, making it their largest source of power. 
So, it's not surprising that the expansion of data centers has raised concerns over their environmental impact and the pressure they could place on local power systems and electricity bills. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who strongly opposed such projects.
The findings point to a broader challenge for the US: The race to develop AI is increasingly becoming a race to meet growing energy needs. Addressing this challenge will require more than advances in computing technology; it will also depend on an energy system capable of delivering large amounts of reliable, affordable and cleaner power. That, in turn, will require faster development and broader deployment of clean-energy technologies, from solar power to energy storage.
Yet in the clean-energy sector, the US has increasingly relied on protectionist trade measures that limit access to cost-competitive products from global markets. The country has placed greater emphasis on expanding domestic manufacturing capacity, but rebuilding entire clean-energy supply chains at home is a costly and time-consuming process. Even if expanded domestic production is achieved, it is likely to come at a higher cost, making the deployment of renewable technologies more expensive and potentially slower.
The solar industry offers a clear illustration of this policy direction. The US has continued to expand trade barriers in the sector. Reuters reported that the US government announced on Thursday a series of price floors and a 15 percent tariff on products made from polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panels.
The challenge lies in the limited scale of the US polysilicon industry. Reuters reported that the country has two polysilicon factories. Against this backdrop, relying on domestic polysilicon production while restricting access to imports runs counter to the goal of expanding solar power in the US. The country risks creating barriers that ultimately constrain its own access to the global supply chains needed for growth.
The pressing issue for the US is the speed at which new power demand is emerging. The expansion of data centers is creating electricity needs that cannot wait for domestic clean-energy capacity to develop gradually. Global supply chains can provide the scale and speed required in the near term. By narrowing access to these sources, the US risks turning clean-energy policy into a drag on the infrastructure needed for its AI race.
The US has placed AI high on its economic and technological agenda. The outcome of this race will matter greatly, as financial markets are also watching whether America can turn its AI efforts into commercial success.
This leaves the US with a difficult choice: Can it afford the cost of clean-energy protectionism while racing to build AI infrastructure? The answer may be no. Trade barriers that limit access to competitive renewable technologies could ultimately become a constraint on the AI expansion that Washington is seeking to accelerate.
The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]

。在挺进温网单打四强后，德约接下来的对手将是东道主选手诺里。意大利新锐辛纳，上一轮淘汰西班牙00后天才少年阿尔卡拉斯，职业生涯第一次进入温网8强，8强也是辛纳四大满贯最好的战绩。面对小德这样的顶级选手，辛纳只能以拼为主，减少失误，力争爆冷。首盘比赛辛纳就在德约4比1领先后，抓住对手松懈的机会，先是强势追回三局，又凭借强大的发球武器，以7比5拿下首盘。丢掉首盘的德约科维奇一度陷入自我怀疑的困境，在发球和网前小球都失去手感。辛纳乘胜追击，率先破发之下6比2再取一盘。但在前两盘的相持中，德约慢慢找回了状态和自信，转眼在第三盘用同样率先破发的方式打击了辛纳的信心。随着德约科维奇找回手感和信心，胜利的天平迅速向卫冕冠军一方倾斜。

B | 辛纳的主动失误也比前两盘多了起来。意大利新锐在后三盘没能给对手制造过多麻烦，最终在这场耗时3小时35分钟的五盘大战后，目送卫冕冠军晋级。至此，德约科维奇在温网最近7场先丢两盘的大战中全都笑到了最后。此外，随着英国选手诺里五盘艰难击败比利时老将戈芬，职业生涯首次挺进大满贯男单四强，他将在半决赛中面对卫冕冠军德约科维奇。女单方面，3号种子贾巴尔在先输一盘的情况下，最终苦战三盘淘汰捷克球员布兹科娃，携草地巡回赛10连胜职业生涯首次挺进大满贯女单四强。贾巴尔半决赛将面对34岁的德国妈妈级球员玛利亚。文/本报记者 褚鹏  供图/视觉中国