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How much electricity do AI generators consume? - The Verge

theverge.com · 2,162 words · saved by 1 readers

By James Vincent, a senior reporter who has covered AI, robotics, and more for eight years at The Verge. It’s common knowledge that machine learning consumes a lot of energy. All those AI models powering email summaries, regicidal chatbots, and videos of Homer Simpson singing nu-metal are racking up a hefty server bill measured in megawatts per hour. But no one, it seems — not even the companies behind the tech — can say exactly what the cost is. Estimates do exist, but experts say those figures are partial and contingent, offering only a glimpse of AI’s total energy usage. This is because machine learning models are incredibly variable, able to be configured in ways that dramatically alter their power consumption. Moreover, the organizations best placed to produce a bill — companies like Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI — simply aren’t sharing the relevant information. (Judy Priest, CTO for cloud operations and innovations at Microsoft said in an e-mail that the company is currently “inves

Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Tech AI AI Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All AI Science Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Science How much electricity does AI consume? It’s not easy to calculate the watts and joules that go into a single Balenciaga pope. But we’re not completely in the dark about the true energy cost of AI. by James Vincent James Vincent Former Senior Repor

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