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☆ Sam Altman believes wars will be fought over AI unless there's massive spending on infrastructure. But that comes with a cost.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewIn a Monday blog post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that massive investment in AI infrastructure is key to market dominance — and avoiding global conflict. "If we don't build enough infrastructure, AI will be a very limited resource that wars get fought over, and that becomes mostly a tool for rich people." Representatives for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. He noted that data centers consume tons of water for their cooling systems — some of which evaporates, so it cannot be reused. "Any human endeavor that involves an optimization challenge can be made more efficient through artificial intelligence," Coglianese said.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Alex de Vries, de Vries, Goldman Sachs, Shaolei Ren, he's, Ren, Cary Coglianese, Coglianese, we'll, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Microsoft, BlackRock, White, Meta, Big Tech, University of California, University of Pennsylvania Locations: United States, United Nations, Riverside

☆ Generative AI requires massive amounts of power and water, and the aging U.S. grid can't handle the load
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-28 | by ( Katie Tarasov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Katie TarasovChasing powerThere are more than 8,000 data centers globally, with the highest concentration in the U.S. And, thanks to AI, there will be far more by the end of the decade. Boston Consulting Group estimates demand for data centers will rise 15%-20% every year through 2030, when they're expected to comprise 16% of total U.S. power consumption. Tench said Vantage's data centers typically have the capacity to use upward of 64 megawatts of power, or as much power as tens of thousands of homes. And as we think about AI applications, those numbers can grow quite significantly beyond that into hundreds of megawatts," Tench said . Vantage Data Centers is expanding a campus outside Phoenix, Arizona, to offer 176 megawatts of capacity Vantage Data CentersHardening the gridThe aging grid is often ill-equipped to handle the load even where enough power can be generated.

Persons: Katie Tarasov, they're, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Jeff Tench, Tench, there's, Shaolei Ren, Rahul Chaturvedi, Chaturvedi, ChatGPT Organizations: Boston Consulting, CNBC, Vantage, North, University of California, U.S Locations: Santa Clara , California, U.S, Silicon Valley, North America, Northern California, Ohio , Texas, Georgia, Phoenix , Arizona, Riverside, Virginia, San Diego

☆ Leaked presentation reveals Microsoft's astounding plan to ramp up data center capacity for the AI boom
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Since July 2023, the start of Microsoft's latest fiscal year, the company delivered more than 500 megawatts of new data center capacity, the document revealed. The rise of generative AI and huge foundation models is fueling a new data center boom. Microsoft's 5 gigawatts of installed data center capacity is equivalent to Hong Kong or Portugal's annual energy consumption, according to Shaolei Ren, an electrical and computer engineering professor at UC Riverside. This will require Microsoft to deliver more than 200 megawatts in data center capacity every month. "This is a very large data center capacity."

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren Organizations: Microsoft, Business, OpenAI, UC Riverside, BI Locations: Hong Kong

☆ Leaked presentation reveals Microsoft's astounding plan to ramp up data-center capacity for the AI boom
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft significantly expanded its data-center capacity recently and plans to ramp up growth to astounding levels going forward, according to an internal document obtained by Business Insider. Since July 2023, the start of Microsoft's latest fiscal year, the company delivered more than 500 megawatts of new data-center capacity, the document disclosed. This requires Microsoft to deliver more than 200 megawatts in data-center capacity every month. "This is a very large data-center capacity." Microsoft's GPU footprint expanded into 39 additional data centers in this period, and the company now has "AI clusters" live in 98 locations globally.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren Organizations: Microsoft, Business, Operations, Innovation, OpenAI, University of California, BI Locations: Riverside, Hong Kong

☆ A ‘thirsty’ generative AI boom poses a growing problem for Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, published a study in April investigating the resources needed to run buzzy generative AI models, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Hundreds of millions of monthly users all submitting questions on the popular chatbot quickly illustrates just how "thirsty" AI models can be. The study's authors warned that if the growing water footprint of AI models is not sufficiently addressed, the issue could become a major roadblock to the socially responsible and sustainable use of AI in the future. For Google, meanwhile, total water consumption at its data centers and offices came in at 5.6 billion gallons in 2022, a 21% increase on the year before. watch nowIt's notable, however, that their latest water consumption figures were disclosed before the launch of their own respective ChatGPT competitors.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren, Eitan Abramovich, OpenAI, Somya Joshi, Microsoft's Bing, Bard, Joshi, Paul Hanna Organizations: UNITED, EMIRATES, Tech, Microsoft, Google, University of California, Uruguay's Central Union, CNT, Afp, Getty, CNBC, Big Tech, Meta, SEI, U.S ., Stockholm Environment Institute, United, Inc, Talavera de la Reina, Bloomberg Locations: Dubai, Riverside, Montevideo, U.S, Stockholm, United Arab Emirates, Talavera de, Spain

The AI boom has triggered a surge in spending on data centers. The AI boom has supercharged a wave of spending on data centers. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe data center boom is set to double or triple the amount of energy consumed by these data centers. A recent Cowen research report estimated that AI data centers could require more than five times the power of traditional facilities. Amazon does not disclose how many data centers it occupies, where they are located, or how much electricity they consume.

Persons: —, ChatGPT, it's, Jonathan Gray, Cowen, Marc Ganzi, Shaolei Ren, Tom Keane, Keane, Bernstein, Mark Moerdler, Jahi, Matt McCollister, Pena Popo, Blackstone, Karla Moran, Moran Organizations: Service, McKinsey, Nvidia, UC Riverside, Microsoft, Washington, Getty, Lincoln Property Company, Harrison Street, Google, Meta, Amazon, Blackstone, Income Trust, QTS Realty Trust, Amazon Web Services, AP, Phoenix Locations: America, Rural America, Loudoun Meadows, Aldie , VA, Ohio, New Albany, Columbus, Northern Virginia, Dallas, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Washington, DC, Virginia, New York City, Salt

☆ Artificial Intelligence Can Make Companies Greener, but It Also Guzzles Energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Nuha Dolby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Artificial intelligence can help tackle climate change, but to fulfill that promise companies need to find a way to limit AI’s own climate impact. Alphabet’s Google and American Airlines used AI to help planes create fewer vapor trails, which contribute to global warming. For many companies using AI there are both positive and negative effects on their carbon emissions and water use. In the U.S., where there is no central electric grid, training models in one state versus another can have a significant impact on carbon emissions. A Google data center in Oregon.

Persons: Omar Marques, Sasha Luccioni, Bloom, “, Luccioni, Andrew Selsky, Shaolei Ren, Ren, There’s, ” Ren, Amalia Kontesi, Equinix, ”, Christopher Wellise, Jacob Reynolds Equinix, Face’s, ” Luccioni Organizations: Sustainable Business, Google, American Airlines, Zuma, Bloom, Energy, Stanford, Associated Press, University of California Riverside, Research, Microsoft, Workers Locations: San Francisco, Bloom, U.S, California, Virginia, New York, Oregon, San Francisco and New York, Americas, Asia, Spain

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The cost of building an artificial intelligence product like ChatGPT can be hard to measure. To keep it cool on hot days, data centers need to pump in water — often to a cooling tower outside its warehouse-sized buildings. The estimate includes indirect water usage that the companies don’t measure — such as to cool power plants that supply the data centers with electricity. It was also thirsty in Iowa, drawing more potable water to its Council Bluffs data centers than anywhere else. Its fourth and fifth data centers are due to open there later this year.

Persons: “, OpenAI, ”, Shaolei Ren, ChatGPT, ” Ren, you’re, Ren, Steve Gaer, Gaer, Brad Smith, ” Smith, —, O'Brien Organizations: DES, Microsoft, Google, University of California, Las, Associated Press, workloads, supercomputing, West, West Des Moines Water Works Locations: DES MOINES, Iowa, Des Moines, Riverside, Oregon, Las Vegas, San Francisco, West Des Moines , Iowa, California, West Des Moines, Arizona, West Des, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ AI has a big, dirty problem that is tarnishing Big Tech's environmental image
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Monica Melton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AI computing has a sustainability problem. Google data centers consumed 5.2 billion gallons of water in 2022, up 20% from a year earlier. A recent Cowen research report estimated that AI data centers could require more than five times the power of traditional facilities. While a regular cloud server uses 300 to 500 watts, according to Shaolei Ren , a researcher at UC Riverside who has studied how modern AI models use resources. Communities are setting up data privacy controls and internet connectivity on their own terms and in ways that don't rely as much on big tech companies.

Persons: Adrienne Russell, Jensen Huang, Cowen, Shaolei Ren, Russell Organizations: Tech, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Nvidia, Center for Journalism, Media, University of Washington, UC Riverside Locations: Virginia, Seattle, Arizona

☆ Amazon built a data center empire in northern Virginia. Exclusive filings reveal it's using as much energy as a major city.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Amazon does not disclose how many data centers it occupies, where they are located, or how much electricity they consume. Many of Amazon's data centers listed in the permits have been built recently and some may still be under construction. "You cannot run a data center based on the variability of solar and wind," Boston said. Any producer of renewable energy can sell one REC for every megawatt hour of renewable energy it generates. Brady, the Cushman & Wakefield data center executive, said that data centers often match their backup generation to the capacity of a data center's power supply.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, David Ward, Abraham Silverman, Sean Brady, Glenn Youngkin, Steve Helber, Terry Boston, –, Ben Hertz, Wood Mackenzie, Andy Jassy Mike Blake, Amazon's, Priya Barua, We've, Barua, Blackstone, Weston Swenson, Brady, Swenson, Josh Levi Organizations: Amazon, Washington DC, Amazon Web Services, UC Riverside, Columbia University's Center, Global Energy, Cushman & Wakefield, Dominion Energy, France's, AP, Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Republican, State Corporation Commission, Boston, state's Department, Environmental, Reuters, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Clean Energy Buyers Association, Virginia's Department, Industry, Cushman &, Dominion, Data Center Coalition Locations: Virginia, New York City, Washington, Seattle, France, Ward, Northern Virginia, West Coast, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE

☆ Google's water use is soaring. AI is only going to make it worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Its latest environmental report shows a 20% jump in water consumption in its data centers. Google just published its 2023 environmental report, and one thing is for certain: The company's water use is soaring. The numbers provide a stark reminder of the environmental cost of running huge data centers, which often require vast amounts of water to stay cool. The majority of the water Google is consuming right now is "potable," clean enough to be used as drinking water. In its latest report, Google said it takes "local water stress" (another way of saying scarcity) into account, and said 82% of its freshwater withdrawals in 2022 came from regions with low water stress.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren, Alistair Barr Organizations: Google, University of California Locations: Riverside, Mesa , Arizona, Arizona, Mesa

☆ Llamas don't drink much water. Meta's new AI version is damn thirsty.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta just released a big new AI model called Llama 2. Meta didn't disclose how much water it used to train this AI model. Ren took that and looked at how efficient Meta data centers are when it comes to using energy and water. That yielded his estimate, which he said is almost double the water footprint of Meta's previous big AI model, Llama 1, which came out earlier this year. Meta's data centers used just over 5 million cubic meters of water in 2021.

Persons: Meta, Shaolei Ren, Ren, He's, didn't Organizations: Alpaca Association, UC Riverside, Meta Locations: Arizona

☆ The cloud uses massive amounts of energy. Generative AI will be way worse. A Microsoft data center veteran warns big changes are coming.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Training AI models in data centers uses up to three times more energy than traditional cloud tasks. A warning from a Microsoft data center veteranA Microsoft data center. MicrosoftTom Keane, who oversaw Microsoft's cloud data centers for about two decades, recently warned about this. An AI data center will need up to three times more power than a traditional cloud facility, he estimated. "The data center of the future is not in Virginia, it's not in Santa Clara, it's not in Dallas, Texas," Ganzi said.

Persons: Marc Ganzi, Cowen, Nammo, TikTok, Jack Clark, Matthew Barakat, Shaolei Ren, Microsoft Tom Keane, Keane, Bernstein, Mark Moerdler, DigitalBridge, Ganzi, it's, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Dominion Energy, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, McKinsey, Big Tech, Financial Times, AP, Nvidia, UC Riverside Locations: Northern Virginia, Manassas , Virginia, Virginia, DataBank, Santa Clara, Dallas , Texas

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