Anson

A thread on AI and it's energy consumption crisis. 🧵

9/ Here is an infographic regarding this problem and solution. canva.com/design/DAGWSmG…

8/ here is a slideshow regarding this problem and solution. docs.google.com/presentation/d…

A thread on AI and it's energy consumption crisis. 🧵

@DanielleFong I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

i've been going on and on about this, but basically, AI flips electricity on its head. previously, nearly half the cost of electricity to the consumer was allocated towards distributing it where (and when) you want it. AI data centers want upwards of hundreds of megawatts of power in one place, most of the time. (and for training they don't care about latency) The most constrained thing isn't even the energy itself -- there's a surplus during the solar peak -- it's often the sheer availability & the interconnection. It now can take multiple years to get a grid interconnect to draw power of this magnitude, if the location can even handle it. The capital cost of the power infrastructure is just a tiny fraction (like 3%!) of the capex of the compute, and even just the depreciation of the compute exceeds the cost of even premium power. Hence, AI hyperscalers and those that aspire to be in their class are traveling to where the power is, are building where power has been (and there's legacy transmission to support it, like old nuclear plants) and are getting into the business of actually building powerplants and reactors. Utilities and transmission and distribution companies, interconnection queues, all are used to react much slower -- over many years -- unlike the top technology companies, now vying to compete at the highest levels of AI performance. Since ~99% of energy technologies previously died withering while waiting for utilities to consider them bankable, this represents an extremely fertile, attractive new state of play if you're bringing a new energy technology to market (💁🏻‍♀️🔆). Whereas before you'd have to brave what was once called a "green valley of death", now you have teracap companies like microsoft bidding on: - Conventional, large nuclear fission - Small modular nuclear reactors - Engineered Geothermal - Fusion! - Stirling Engines 😬 - Who knows what else - Maybe you, Anon! Even Tesla is standing up gas generator arrays to burn fossil fuels for their AI power supply. Shit is getting real

@Chain_GPT I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

AI is powerful, but at what cost? 🔌 Here's a look at the current trends and projections for AI's energy use. 🧵 [1/5]

@emollick I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

I think it is completely reasonable to be worried about the growing electrical demand of AI (I am), but I often see people assuming AI is a much bigger energy user than it actually is right now This is from the International Energy Agency's 2024 report, which gives some context

@AlainL812 I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

What should we do then? I feel like we cant avoid the integration of AI in our lives given we are entering the era of tech, so what is a sustainable way to actually use it/implement it?

@OgLakyn I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Not only that, but, the computers require so much computing power, which generates so much heat, they use a LOT of water to keep them from overheating. Training ONE AI program for three weeks can require over 250,000 gallons. It's harmful RIGHT NOW, let alone long-term.

@Rahll I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

AI data centers are on track to demand so much energy as to cause shortages, which will then drive up the cost of electricity.

@ThomasHochman I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

@ReutersBiz I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Artificial intelligence may seem to generate content from the cloud, but its vast energy use brings it back down to earth. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers could be using as much energy as Japan by 2026. Industry experts explain AI's energy problem

@ftr_investors I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

$MSFT $GOOGL $AMZN Big Tech bets on nuclear energy to solve its AI power problems.

@NuclearHazelnut @ChatGPTapp I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Did you know? A single AI response requires about 10–100 watt-seconds of energy. Now, imagine millions of requests per hour globally. 💡 In 1 hr, an AI like @ChatGPTapp could easily process 1 million requests, consuming an estimated 27 kWh—equivalent to running a refrigerator for 15 days. Multiply that by every data center worldwide, and you get a massive energy demand.⚡ Nuclear energy provides a continuous, reliable source of clean power, producing up to ~1 GW per reactor—enough to power AI systems 24/7 while maintaining net-zero emissions. 🌍 The future of AI is bright, but it needs sustainable, round-the-clock power. Nuclear Energy is the answer.

@EricFlaningam I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Among the many bottlenecks for AI data centers, energy might be the most important and the most difficult to address. IF estimates of data center energy consumption turn out to be true (or even in the vicinity of truth), our current energy infrastructure will not be able to support those demands. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to increase energy capacity quickly. I think it will take many solutions to solve this problem, just a few of them are: - Off-Grid Power Generation - Nuclear - Long-Duration Energy Storage (Batteries) - Building Where the Power’s At - Grid Optimization Tech I shared some thoughts on this in the newsletter this morning (link below).

@tsarnick I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Sam Altman says abundant intelligence and abundant energy will lead to solving every problem in physics and eventually we'll be talking not about using nuclear fusion or solar to power AI but a Dyson Sphere

@tsarnick I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

Alexandr Wang says 20 gigawatts of energy will be needed in the next 2-3 years to power new AI data centers - 5 Chicagos worth of energy

@Letter_to_Jack I've made a thread on AI's energy consumption for anyone interested. x.com/EM203Anson/sta…

This is the complete breakdown of the Power Demand and Energy Consumption of nearly all domestic appliances that we use in Nigeria based on your requests. Go through this carefully. Source: Ikeja Electric.