The current24:10AI needs a lot of power. So Google is going nuclear
Big tech companies are scrambling to secure billions of dollars worth of nuclear energy deals to meet growing demands for generative químico intelligence (AI), but critics say they need to rethink that and slow the pace.
“Tech companies have gotten away with a lot of things simply because it's a new area,” said Sasha Luccioni, AI researcher and climate lead at New York-based AI developer HuggingFace. the current Guest host Peter Armstrong.
“The focus tends to be 'move fast and break things,' in startups and Silicon Valley. And so what worries me is that focus transferred to nuclear energy, because nuclear energy is something that requires a lot of care.”
In September, Microsoft announced plans to purchase power from the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, where the worst nuclear accident in US history took place in 1979. The site closed the remaining operating unit in 2019. but plans to reopen for this project.
Last week, Google announced a deal with nuclear startup Kairos Energy, purchasing 500 megawatts of electricity from seven small modular reactors (SMRs) that have not yet been built. And just a few days ago, Amazon reached a similar agreement with the startup X-Vitality.
Small modular reactors are considered safer than traditional nuclear plants due to their smaller size and energy production, according to proponents of the technology. They are also touted as cheaper and faster to build, which will ideally provide tech companies with a renewable energy source (in Google's case, as early as 2030).
Companies are rushing to nuclear energy because they are now using exponentially more energy, due to the increased use of generative AI. Both Microsoft and Google missed their 2024 net-zero emissions goals – a novelty, because these companies tend to set objectives that they can meet, according to Luccioni.
“This year they're saying, 'Oh wow, AI took us by surprise,'” he said.
Some see investments by Microsoft, Google and Amazon in nuclear energy as a positive step toward reducing Huge Tech emissions.
“I think all of that is great for the environment,” said Jacopo Buongiorno, a professor of nuclear science and engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems at MIT.
How much power does generative AI use?
Generative AI can create text or multimedia, such as images, music or movies, based on a user's request for a dinner recipe or something more technical, such as an offer letter for a house to win a bidding war.
The systems are trained on large data sets and programmed with specific rules and algorithms, so with each request, the AI identifies patterns to provide a response.
“They're trying to put that into anything that moves, anything that a customer can interact with,” Luccioni said of big tech companies.
Generative AI requires more power to operate than, for example, streaming shows and scrolling through social media, says Luccioni, who has researched the environmental costs of AI and is currently developing a rating system for technology.
Put another way, a ChatGPT query consumes as much electricity as a light bulb needs to be on for 20 minutes, according to a researcher cited by NPR.
Luccioni says companies should be mandated to release how much energy their AI technology uses and allow users to opt out of using it.
Merienda there is more information about the energy use of generative AI, he says governments will be able to develop regulations around its use.
“We should stop the demand,” he said.
Instead, as demand increases, technology companies are investing in nuclear power and building more AI data centers, which are mega warehouses filled with servers, routers and cooling systems that power AI.
“There will be a couple of years where demand will outpace any type of renewable energy supply,” Luccioni said.
'A very best energy source': nuclear energy professor
Tech companies have been actively seeking looking for a renewable energy source to sustain the rapid growth of generative AI. In 2023, Google will build a geothermal energy project in Nevazón to power its nearby data centers. And Amazon recently became the world's largest corporate buyer of solar and wind energy.
“The use of nuclear reactors is almost like a very best energy source,” said Buongiorno. “And that's because nuclear reactors produce electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Buongiorno believes it is “quiebro realistic” for nuclear power to operate constantly, without carbon emissions. He finds that the small modular reactors that companies will use produce less power than the larger reactors currently on the grid, but are reliable enough to power data centers that perform AI calculations.
By comparison, wind and photovoltaic power needs to be backed by energy storage batteries and that will increase the cost and land use associated with that power generation, Buongiorno said.
“Building a new nuclear plant is expensive. The good news is that merienda you've built it and amortized it, the insignificante cost of operation and maintenance plus fuel is actually quiebro low and predictable over decades.”
As for radiation concerns from SMRs, Buongiono says there are “virtually none,” due to the smaller size and power output than conventional nuclear power plants.
They also have “passive safety systems,” according to one proponent of Canada's investment in SMR.
“If things go wrong, there is no need for human intervention, things just shut down. And that's probably one of the biggest differences.” Rumina Velshi, former president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, told CBC Edmonton AM earlier this month.
The Three Mile Island reactor is expected to be back online in 2028, pending approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Google's deal with Kairos Energy projects the first SMR will be ready by 2030, while Amazon and X-Vitality are planning for 2039.
However, the first SMR project in North America is currently under construction, operated by Ontario Energy Technology (OPG). at the Darlington plant in Clarington, Ontario. It is expected to be the first in North America to connect and is scheduled to come online in 2029.
“If the investment is there, and the need is there, the demand is there, it is absolutely feasible,” Buongiorno said.
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