BBC (October 15)
“Silicon Valley is on the hunt for new sources of power to drive enormous data centres and in particular, the high-power chips that have become the backbone of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.” Nuclear power is capturing Increasing attention, especially small modular reactors (SMRs), which “sound like the perfect solution to the growing energy AI demand.” Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The SMRs being discussed would only produce a small fraction of AI’s needs. Moreover, SMRs generate more nuclear “waste than larger conventional reactors.” Nevertheless, “big tech is making a big bet on nuclear – Microsoft has even recently joined the industry’s lobbying group, the World Nuclear Association.”
Tags: AI, Chips, Conventional reactors, Data centers, Lobbying, Microsoft, Nuclear power, Power, Silicon Valley, SMRs, Solution, Sources, Waste
The Economist (February 8, 2014)
China is getting “a small breath of fresh air” as new policies stipulate “official data, formerly held secretly, should be published.” This marks “an important step, not just for China’s environment, but also because it gives new power to the large and growing movement of citizen activists who have been lobbying for the government to clean up.”
Tags: Activists, Air, China, Citizens, Data, Environment, Government, Lobbying, Power, Published
