The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought us infinite possibilities, but at the same time, it has exposed a huge problem, namely, energy. With the continuous advancement and widespread application of AI technology, the energy demand may increase dramatically, posing immense pressure on the existing power systems.
According to a report by The New Yorker magazine, research institutions abroad have shown that ChatGPT responds to approximately 200 million requests per day, consuming over 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in the process (commercial electricity in the United States is approximately 0.147 dollars per kilowatt-hour, equivalent to a daily expenditure of 73,500 dollars). The average electricity consumption per household in the United States is only 29 kilowatt-hours, meaning that ChatGPT consumes electricity equivalent to 17,000 American households per day.
This data was estimated by Alex de Vries, a data scientist at the Dutch Central Bank, using publicly available data from companies such as Nvidia, OpenAI, and Google. He also predicts that by 2027, the entire AI industry will consume between 85 and 134 terawatt-hours of electricity annually.
Musk has repeatedly expressed concerns about the future energy infrastructure, particularly regarding potential shortages in transformers and power supply. He stated: With the advancement and widespread application of AI technology, the energy demand may increase dramatically, especially in areas such as data centers, large-scale computing, and smart grids, which will pose immense pressure on existing power systems.
With the advancement of AI and the increasing size of models, how to address the accompanying high energy consumption issue has become a focus.
The current focus is on open-source solutions. Renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics are considered important energy pools for data centers, with nuclear energy being auspicious. Due to its nearly unlimited fuel supply, environmental friendliness, high energy density, and safety, nuclear fusion is considered a key technology for solving energy crises and climate change. Thanks to the active participation of multiple countries and private enterprises as well as technological breakthroughs, the global commercialization of nuclear fusion is accelerating. If successfully commercialized, it will provide humanity with almost unlimited clean energy.