AI data centers are very hot right now. Every time generative AI services dip into their massive language models to make a chatbot answer one of your questions, it takes massive amounts of processing power to sift through all that data. Doing so can use huge amounts of energy, meaning the rise of AI raises questions about how sustainable this technology really is and how it affects the ecosystems around it. Some companies think they have a solution: to use those data centers underwater, where they can use the surrounding sea water to cool and better control the temperature of the GPUs working hard inside. But it turns out that just putting something in the ocean is not a foolproof plan to reduce its environmental impact.
This week it continues Gadget LabWIRED WRITERS Paresh Dave and Reece Rogers join the show to talk about their reporting on underwater data centers and how the race to power AI systems is taking its toll on the environment.
Show Notes
Read Paresh and Reece’s story about a plan to place an underwater data center in San Francisco Bay. Read Reece’s stories about how this is the time for AI hype and how to get in on all the AI ​​hype. Read Lauren’s story about a social network inhabited only by bots. Read Karen Hao’s story at The Atlantic about how companies like Microsoft are taking water from the desert to use to cool AI data centers. Here’s an article from Black Cat about the character Harper is based off of Industry. Follow all of WIRED’s AI and weather coverage.
Recommendations
Paresh recommends checking out cookbooks at your local library. Reece praises the first song It’s dusk a movie for all your autumn moods. Lauren recommends the HBO show Industry. Mike recommends Anna Weiner’s profile of bicycle designer Grant Peterson at The New Yorker.
Reece Rogers can be found on social media @thiccreese. Paresh Dave is @peard33. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @[email protected]. Bling main phone number at @GadgetLab. The show is hosted by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.
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