AI Craves Clean Energy! OpenAI CEO warns future AI depends on breakthroughs like fusion & solar to power its vast needs. Will nuclear fission join the party?
OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman said an energy breakthrough is necessary for future artificial intelligence, which will consume vastly more power than people have expected.
Speaking at a Bloomberg event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Altman said the silver lining is that more climate-friendly sources of energy, particularly nuclear fusion or cheaper solar power and storage, are the way forward for AI.
“There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough,” he said. “It motivates us to invest more in fusion.”
In 2021, Altman personally provided $375 million to private U.S. nuclear fusion company Helion Energy, which since has signed a deal to provide energy to Microsoft, opening a new tab in future years. Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest financial backer and provides computing resources for AI.
Altman said he wished the world would also embrace nuclear fission as an energy source.
