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Altman: AI Water Use Claims 'Totally Fake'
22 Feb
Summary
- Sam Altman dismisses AI water usage claims as untrue and disconnected from reality.
- He acknowledges AI's significant energy consumption as a real concern.
- Altman advocates for rapid transition to nuclear, wind, and solar energy sources.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently addressed the environmental impact of artificial intelligence during an event in India. He specifically refuted widespread claims about AI's water consumption, labeling them as "totally fake" and lacking any basis in reality. Altman suggested these claims stem from outdated data center cooling methods.
While dismissing water usage concerns, Altman emphasized that the overall energy consumption of AI is a legitimate global issue. He stressed the urgent need for the world to transition towards renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as nuclear power, to support the growing demand.
Altman also commented on the efficiency of AI, arguing that comparisons of energy usage for training models versus single queries are unfair. He proposed that once trained, AI's energy expenditure per query is comparable to or better than human cognitive processes.
