OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made a startling statement on Tuesday, claiming that a breakthrough in nuclear fusion is necessary to meet the power requirements of future AI systems.
Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Altman said that artificial intelligence would be consuming far more energy than what was previously expected.
As of now, OpenAI handles hundreds of millions of queries on its AI systems on a daily basis. According to estimates, this consumes 1GWh of energy a day – which is equivalent to the power consumption of about 33,000 households in the US.
Impossible to Advance without a Breakthrough, Claims Altman
Talking about the growing power requirements, Sam Altman emphasized that “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough”.
Dubbed the “holy grail” of clean energy” by some scientists, nuclear fusion mimics the reactions that occur naturally in the sun.
With generative AI tools and systems like ChatGPT improving in both functionality and popularity, energy consumption is likely to skyrocket in the coming years.
However, Altman also pointed out the silver lining – a greater focus on clean energy. AI developments and the consequently rising energy requirements motivate companies to focus on cleaner energy sources such as nuclear fusion and cheaper solar energy generation and storage.
This would drive more investments toward nuclear fusion, which holds the potential to offer an almost unlimited supply of clean energy.
Scientists around the globe have been trying to make commercial energy generation through nuclear fusion a reality, with several breakthroughs in recent years.
Helion Energy to Potentially Produce Fusion Energy for OpenAI
US-based nuclear fusion firm, Helion Energy became the world’s first company to bag a purchase agreement for fusion energy last year when Microsoft entered a deal with the firm.
Helion Energy aims to set up a 50 MW nuclear fusion power plant by 2028, potentially becoming the first company to produce and distribute fusion energy commercially.
The agreement binds Helion Energy to build the power plant by the given timeline and sell it to Microsoft, with financial penalties in the event of a failure.
By entering the purchase agreement with Helion Energy, Microsoft may have potentially ensured a limitless energy supply for OpenAI, which relies on the tech giant’s computing resources and servers to power its own AI systems.
Among the nuclear fusion breakthroughs in recent years, the first-ever fusion ignition at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 2022 happens to be the most notable. However, commercial production of fusion energy still seems like a distant dream.
It’s worth noting that Helion Energy isn’t using either of the two methods that led to the most advanced attempts at generating fusion energy so far.
While one method involves shooting tiny targets with powerful laser beams, the other relies on confining superheated materials known as plasma using magnetic fields.
Instead, Helion is developing a 40 ft. long plasma accelerator capable of heating fuel to 100 million degrees Celsius. It would first create plasma by heating helium-3 and deuterium, a hydrogen isotope, before compressing the plasma using magnetic fields to create the fusion.
If the firm does succeed in its attempt to build a commercial fusion energy power plant, it might potentially give OpenAI a significant edge over its rivals.
Sam Altman himself has invested $375 million in Helion Energy already. Both Microsoft and OpenAI seem confident in Helion Energy’s ability to deliver nuclear fusion energy by 2028.
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