Mr ChatGPT and other AI greats go to the White House to discuss the enormous energy hunger of AI

CNN
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CNN has learned that the face of artificial intelligence in America is meeting with senior US officials at the White House on Thursday. The first meeting of its kind will focus on solving a puzzle that could put a heavy strain on US infrastructure: how to drive the AI ​​boom forward.

Technology executives expected to attend include Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker Open AI, Google executive Ruth Porat and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

The meeting, which has not been previously reported, will mark the first time senior White House officials have met with technology company leaders to discuss how to satisfy AI's insatiable appetite for energy. The source said the White House expects to discuss in detail how the public and private sectors can work together to sustain U.S. leadership in AI.

This effort shows how business leaders and government officials are being forced to face new challenges posed by the AI ​​boom that has captivated Wall Street investors.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other senior Biden-Harris administration officials, as well as representatives from Microsoft, will also attend, according to a White House official.

Neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to attend.

The rapid development of energy-intensive artificial intelligence has raised fears that the technology could strain the U.S.'s aging power grid at a time when the Biden administration is trying to accelerate the phase-out of coal and other fossil fuels.

Although AI has the potential to solve thorny problems such as the climate crisis and cancer, it brings with it equally complex challenges, including how to meet the enormous power demands of modern AI systems.

A single query on ChatGPT uses about ten times as much electricity as a typical Google search, according to the International Energy Agency. By 2026, the AI ​​industry is expected to consume at least ten times as much as it did in 2023, according to the IEA.

According to Goldman Sachs, artificial intelligence is expected to lead to a 160 percent increase in data center electricity demand by 2030. Artificial intelligence's hunger for energy is so great that it will significantly increase the U.S.'s long-stagnant electricity demand over the rest of the decade, the bank said.

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Altman plans to attend the meeting and will focus on how expanding America's AI infrastructure – power generation, data centers and semiconductor manufacturing – will create jobs.

In a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post, Altman called the question of who will control the future of artificial intelligence “the pressing question of our time.”

“The United States currently has a head start in the development of artificial intelligence,” Altman wrote, “but its continued leadership is far from guaranteed. Authoritarian governments around the world are willing to spend enormous sums to catch up and eventually overtake us.”

Altman has a lot at stake in this regard. In addition to being the face of the AI ​​industry, he has also invested in Exowatt, a startup betting that solar energy can help reduce AI's carbon footprint. Exowatt has just launched a new system that can generate and store clean energy for AI data centers.

“President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to strengthening U.S. leadership in AI by ensuring data centers are built in the U.S. while ensuring responsible development of the technology,” White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson said in a statement to CNN.

Other U.S. officials expected to attend the AI ​​Power Conference on Thursday include White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and senior climate officials Ali Zaidi and John Podesta.

The meeting follows a July 2023 effort by the Biden administration to get leading AI companies to commit to external testing of new AI systems before public release and to clearly label AI-generated content.

It's a big day for Sam Altman: He will appear on ABC's special on artificial intelligence at 8 p.m. ET, hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates will also be a guest on the show.