Hungry for Energy, Amazon, Google and Microsoft Turn to Nuclear Power | Large technology companies are investing billions of dollars in nuclear energy as an emissions-free source of electricity for AI
Hungry for Energy, Amazon, Google and Microsoft Turn to Nuclear Power | Large technology companies are investing billions of dollars in nuclear energy as an emissions-free source of electricity for AI
My impression is that this is a PR push, designed to avoid having to invest in renewables, and let them keep on burning gas and coal, rather than something likely to come to fruition.
All for a technology that solves nothing
Nuclear is a good option but calling it emission-free is glossing over a pretty big problem we haven't solved yet.
Even if they don't burn fossils, the steel and concrete alone emits thousands/millions of tons of GHG's; every project.
I guarantee the mining and refinement of fissile material is also extremely energy and water intensive, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of those embodied GHG's are ignored or criminally underreported.
Unfortunately the energy requirements of "ai" are very real and more importantly the massive amount of investment and obsession with ai is specifically because of the moat that the insane energy requirements creates. Corporations have zero interest in an ai technology that is efficient and doesn't require gargantuan energy requirements, it would be antithetical towards the strategic aims of these large technology companies.
The energy efficiency of traditional search engines was always a severe liability for google, ai solves that issue or at least they have convinced themselves it does.
...which isn't to say you are wrong but the atrocious energy efficiency of ai is very very real.