AI's Appetite for Energy Is Going to Be Huge
Also: A humanoid-robot milestone, new robot-learning techniques and a reminder to beware "enshittification"
1. AI’s Energy Demands
As you've probably noticed, many expect that we'll soon be living with AI baked into everything, from grammar checkers to toasters to shoes (to say nothing of all the robots). That's going to require a lot of electricity — so much, says OpenAI's Sam Altman, that this supposed AI utopia can't be realized until humanity makes an epochal breakthrough on energy. A few more solar panels and wind farms won't cut it. We'll need something more on the order of practical nuclear fusion. "There's no way to get there without a breakthrough," he said last week.
2. Humanoid Robot Trial at BMW
Robots have been everywhere in car manufacturing for 50 years, but there's always been plenty of work left for humans. Our hands are much better at fine-motor tasks (for instance, snaking a bunch of electrical cables through an awkwardly shaped little aperture). And our bodies fit…