OpenAI CEO Altman says future AI depends on energy breakthrough

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 go invest more in fusion.”

In 2021, Altman personally provided US$375 million ($570 million) to private US nuclear fusion company Helion Energy, which since has signed a deal to provide energy to Microsoft in future years.

Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest financial backer and provides it computing resources for AI.

Altman said he wished the world would embrace nuclear fission as an energy source as well.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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