Privacy Meets AI: Enabling Data Center Collaboration to Support Grid Stability
On May 19th, 2025, the Boston University Hariri Institute hosted the Focused Research Program (FRP) symposium titled “Data Center and Power Grid Interactions: Challenges and Opportunities,” highlighting the challenges associated with rising data center energy demands. The event brought together experts from engineering, energy systems, data centers, and privacy research to explore how massive AI-driven workloads are placing unprecedented stress on the U.S. power grid. Professor Ayşe Coşkun and a multidisciplinary research team presented their FRP project, “Privacy Preserving Energy Analytics for Data Centers,” which proposes a collaborative, privacy-conscious framework for allowing data centers to dynamically manage power use in coordination with the power grid, especially during peak demand periods.
The symposium emphasized the importance of convergent research in addressing the intersecting challenges of AI growth, energy sustainability, and data privacy. Panelists highlighted the need for data centers to share predictive insights while safeguarding sensitive information, using tools like differential privacy and encrypted computation. Co-led by Professors Adam Smith and Ajay Joshi, the project aims to demonstrate real-world viability by integrating AI-driven optimization and secure data-sharing protocols. As AI adoption accelerates, the event underscored the critical role of academic-industry partnerships in building resilient, efficient infrastructure to support a sustainable digital future.
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