The modern-day AI revolution has caused Alphabet Inc Class C (Google) (Nasdaq: GOOG) to observe a major increase in its rate of energy consumption over the past five years.
This week, the tech behemoth revealed in an environmental report that its emissions have increased by 48 per cent since 2019. Vast amounts of electricity needed to train its AI tools have resulted in the company receiving unpleasant power bills.
This rapidly developing technology requires much more energy than other programs and services of the past. AI systems like ChatGPT can use up to 33 times as much energy as other software programs.
In fact, the research firm SemiAnalysis has predicted that AI’s expansion will result in data centres using a staggering 4.5 per cent of the world’s energy by the end of the decade. They currently only use about 1.2 per cent, according to the International Energy Agency.
“In 2023, our total greenhouse gas emissions increased 13 per cent year-over-year, primarily driven by increased data centre energy consumption and supply chain emissions,” Google said in the report.
Google's electricity consumption has grown dramatically over the past decade, and that growth isn't slowing down.
They're using AI for everything, and those AI systems are using a ton of energy! Of course, they pledge reductions, but will it happen?https://t.co/NVuJfTPtop pic.twitter.com/njefzBA1T1
— Jesse Dodge (@JesseDodge) July 3, 2024
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Google invests billions in data centres to keep up
Chief executive Sundar Pichai just announced that Google would be investing an additional C$1.3 billion into its major Council Bluffs data centre in Iowa. Furthermore, the company just put over C$3.1 billion into its Ohio data centres to augment their infrastructure and keep up with energy demands.
“Data centres are essential to our digital lives and Google’s additional multibillion-dollar investment further establishes central Ohio as an important tech hub in America,” Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted said last month.
In a nutshell, data centres are comprised of a gigantic collection of computer servers. Smaller companies training early-stage AI programs need them too, like VERSES AI Inc. (CBOE: VERS) (OTCQB: VRSSF).
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rowan@mugglehead.com
