TECHNOLOGY

Big Tech’s AI arms race has a significant energy cost. For example, a study found that training OpenAI’s GPT-4 used up to 62,000 megawatt-hours, equal to the energy needs of 1,000 U.S. households over 5-6 years.

And, as Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao details below, this can be seen when tracking Microsoft’s electricity use (in terawatt-hours) and related carbon emissions (in million metric tons of CO₂e) in the last four years.

Data is sourced from the company’s 2024 Sustainability Report, and covers FY 2020–23. Microsoft’s financial year runs from July 1st to June 30th.

AI Push is Putting Pressure on Microsoft’s Emissions Targets

In just four years, Microsoft’s electricity consumption has more than doubled from 11 TWh to 24 TWh. For context, the entire country of Jordan (population: 11 million) uses 20 TWh of electricity in a given year.

This electricity usage jump is accompanied by a 42% increase in total carbon emissions—indicating a relative growing share of renewable energy sources.

Note: Figures rounded.

Both (more…)

Authored by Tristan Greene via CoinTelegraph.com,

Scientists and lawmakers in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union are ramping up efforts to advance quantum computing in the West after scientists in China observed what appears to be the world’s first room-temperature time crystals.

A team of physicists hailing primarily from Tsinghua University in China, with contributions from scientists in Denmark and Austria, published peer-reviewed research on July 2 (more…)

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Google has been blasted for a commercial touting its Gemini AI tool, with viewers describing the ad as completely “soul crushing.”

The minute-long video was aired over coverage of the Olympics and features a young girl who is a big fan of American Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

The girl’s father is seen in the commercial saying “She might even be the world’s number one Sydney fan.”

Then comes the (more…)