The competition between the US and China in artificial intelligence is intensifying, with opinions in the US framing AI as a modern nuclear threat. The US is struggling with energy limitations for AI, as advancements are hindered by debates over power grid capacity. In contrast, China has made significant investments in its power grid, allowing for a seamless expansion of AI technologies. This discrepancy has led to critical energy shortages in the US, where companies are forced to adopt unconventional measures to meet AI demands.
Energy is considered a solved problem. Everywhere we went, people treated energy availability as a given. This is a stark contrast to the US, where AI growth is increasingly tied to debates over data center power consumption and grid limitations.
AI is a notoriously energy-intensive technology. The data centers powering large language models like ChatGPT are immense labyrinths of computer chips, which suck down resources like power and water in order to keep up with demand.
Electricity is the key bottleneck for expanding AI infrastructure. That's caused some critical shortages in the US, leading companies to adopt bizarre strategies to secure energy.
Short on energy and hopped up on fantasies of an arms race, American companies are resorting to all kinds of bizarre strategies. Elon Musk's xAI, for example, is running 35 portable methane gas generators in the parking lot of one of its main datacenters.
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