AI's Soaring Energy Use Raises Alarm Bells on Sustainability
• AI's energy use is soaring as companies race to make bigger, more complex models, creating a massive carbon footprint
• OpenAI head Sam Altman points to nuclear fusion as the long-term solution to power next-gen AI, but experts say fusion is decades away
• In the near-term, AI's energy demand needs to be met by existing renewable sources, not increased fossil fuel reliance
• AI could help mitigate climate change, but its efficiency gains may spur more demand, not less energy use
• Companies are treating ever-bigger AI models as inevitable despite the sustainability contradictions, raising calls for greater transparency