Electricity powers AI and governments are taking notice and heed
Wyoming, a U.S. state in the Mountain West region of the United States, has a bucking horse and rider on its license plates. Known as The Cowboy State, now Wyoming is bucking for a new title to supplement its image — energy supplier for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Wyoming is already a power player in the energy exporting business, sending some 60% of the energy it produces to consumers in other states.
Power surge
Energy production is a big concern for the AI power players. The demand for more energy generated by AI firms is expected to double by 2030 to more than 4% of global demand.
PacificCorp, which serves six Western states and operates as Rocky Mountain Power already has requests to deliver 7,000 megawatts of new, not-yet-built electric power, officials say. That’s equivalent to adding one more U.S. state to its system.
AI is a game changer
At the forefront of this drive to source energy are, not surprisingly, the Big Three tech companies — Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. They are pouring billions of dollars into nuclear energy.
Nuclear power plants, when operated safely, can be an emissions-free source of electricity. The nuclear power plant at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, the site the U.S.’s worst nuclear disaster in 1979 and shuttered ever since, will soon be revived to produce electricity for Microsoft. Amazon and Google are turning their attention to a new generation of small, modular reactors.
D.C. pushes for AC
On October 25, 2024, the U.S. White House issued the National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence. The memo acknowledges the pivotal role AI will play in national security and foreign policy. The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration are working to understand and mitigate the risks associated with AI, improve AI systems’ performance and efficiency, and chart a path forward to fortify the U.S. AI ecosystem.
“This first-ever National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence establishes that retaining U.S. leadership in the most advanced AI models will be vital for our national security and global competitiveness, while also ensuring the industry can grow rapidly, powered by clean energy investments, said the U.S.’ Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE is committed, now more than ever, to harness frontier AI for our science, energy and national security mission, ensuring we have the infrastructure to power this critical technology for the years ahead.”
Jill Hruby, the U.S. Undersecretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator, added, “AI is a game-changing technology, and the government has a responsibility to evaluate its potential impacts and harness AI for nuclear and national security missions.”
Governments at the local, regional, and national levels around the world have, remarkably, sprung to attention as AI has entered the consciousness and conversation. Given the potential for AI to propel mankind to new heights or, in a darker context plunge humanity to its demise, nations will need to rely on their leaders to produce the brighter of the two outcomes.
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