Article by Eric Worrell
All output from the reopened Three Mile Island nuclear power plant will be used to power artificial intelligence computers.
Once-shuttered nuclear power plants may soon be back online.
The planned reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant has been hailed as a boon to Pennsylvania and a booster of artificial intelligence, but is still loathed by residents haunted by the near-catastrophic plant disaster in 1979.…
Three Mile Island's (TMI) resurgence was driven by Microsoft's need to power its power-hungry data centers, half of which were still operating after the 1979 collapse, only to close in 2019 for economic reasons.
The revolution generating artificial intelligence has triggered a surge in energy demand in these data centers, prompting cloud computing giants to search for additional low-carbon energy sources.
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For others, the fears and anxieties of 1979 are still strong.
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In 1979, a series of equipment failures and human error caused a meltdown in Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere and leading to mass evacuations.
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Learn more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cheers-angst-as-us-nuclear-plant-Three-mile-island-to-reopen/ar-AA1uDRIg
It’s hard to imagine that the entire output of the reopened Three Mile Island nuclear power plant will be used by Microsoft’s artificial intelligence data center.
Why does artificial intelligence need so much power? The reason is that large artificial intelligence systems need to sift through trillions, sometimes trillions, of failed attempts before they can find the solution they are looking for. Even if potential solutions are evaluated billions of times per second, results can take days, months, or even years. But by adding more computer hardware, this process of digitally mining neural networks to find the right nuggets can be sped up—an AI hardware arms race that has led to the current situation where big tech companies Rehabilitation of the nuclear reactor has begun solely for the purpose of powering the next generation data center.
Anyone who wants to delve deeper into why AI requires such power can read the explanation in my recent article on AI and see real AI in action.
Due to the rise of artificial intelligence, the renewable energy revolution is unstoppable. Even if better algorithms are discovered, the huge artificial intelligence data centers will not be retired. Better algorithms will be used to improve the processing capabilities of existing artificial intelligence systems and help design next-generation systems that consume more power.
We are at the dawn of the information age and the age of artificial intelligence. Politicians and even tech companies may still pay lip service to renewable energy, and some of the more intellectually challenged, stubborn politicians in the UK and Australia still haven't gotten the memo, but one thing is beyond doubt: the energy-hungry information age will not be able to Gaining power It will be powered by rooftop solar and “community batteries” It will be fed by nuclear, coal, natural gas, and whatever surplus power the energy-hungry AI companies can find to feed the wolves into their insanely growing fleet of AI systems Open their mouths wide to maintain their competitive advantage. Anyone who hesitates or pauses even a moment to question what they are creating will be trampled in the stampede, race to the finish line.
Drill, baby, drill.
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