this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
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Modern AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power, and it looks like they will get even more power-hungry in the coming years as companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI strive towards artificial general intelligence (AGI). Oracle has already outlined plans to use nuclear power plants for its 1-gigawatt datacenters. It looks like Microsoft plans to do the same as it just inked a deal to restart a nuclear power plant to feed its data centers, reports Bloomberg.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 45 minutes ago* (last edited 43 minutes ago) (1 children)

Different reactor. Unit 2 partially melted down, there's no turning it back on. Unit 1 continued running after Unit 2's failure, and was only shut down because it became economically unviable

[–] [email protected] 3 points 41 minutes ago
[–] [email protected] 38 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

Are we eventually gonna get more fusion because billionaires are demanding more energy for their stupid projects?

Sure, knock yourselves out.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 47 minutes ago

Are we eventually gonna get more fusion [...]

Either you mean fission, or the "more" could be omitted.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

This is how I'm able to sleep without worrying about death, one of these billionaires has got to be funding research so they can live forever. No guarantee they'll share but that's at least a less dread inducing issue.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, too bad there's no long-term storage for the waste so it will mean more and more leaks polluting land for centuries since the power companies will just go bankrupt when it's time to do anything about it like with most forms of pollution.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 23 hours ago (4 children)

I'm sure that everyone will recognize that this was a great idea in a couple of years when generative LLM AI goes the way of the NFT.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 hours ago

LLMs have real uses, even if they're being overhyped right now. Even if they do fail, though, more nuclear power is a great outcome

[–] [email protected] 33 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Honestly, it probably is a great idea regardless. The plant operated for a very long time profitably. I'm sure it can again with some maintenance and upgrades. People only know three mile island for the (not so disastrous) disaster, but the rest of the plant operated for decades after without any issues.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

It's one of a hell of an old nuclear plant if it's the original three mile island one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 hours ago

It is, yeah. It was in operation until 2019.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

with some maintenance and upgrades.

Hopefully we can trust these tech bros to do that properly and without using their usual "move fast and break things" approach.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 hours ago

They are only buying 100% of the output. The old owners are still owning and operating it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

And if they do skimp on maintenance and upgrades and the plant melts down, we can be assured that no harm will come to the company because the scale of the disaster would wipe them out and they're "too big to fail."

[–] UndercoverUlrikHD 7 points 17 hours ago

Once operational, the energy generated is cheap and will still be in demand

[–] [email protected] 7 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

Nfts were a scam from the start something that has no actual purpose utility or value being given value through hype.

Generative AI is very different. In my honest opinion you have to have your head in the sand if you don't believe that AI is only going to incrementally improve and expand in capabilities. Just like it has year over year for the last 5 to 10 years. And just like for the last decade it continues to solve more and more real-world problems in increasingly effective manners.

It isn't just constrained to llms either.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

The creators who made the LLM boom said they cannot improve it any more with the current technique due to diminishing returns.

It's worthless in its current state.

Should be dying out faster imo.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

That's one groups opinion, we still see improving LLMs I'm sure they will continue to improve and be adapted for whatever future use we need them. I mean I personally find them great in their current state for what I use them for

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

What skin do you have in this game? Leading industry experts, who btw want to SELL IT TO YOU, told you it has hit a ceiling. Why do you refute it so much? Let it die, we will all be better off.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 minutes ago

Even if it didn't improve further there are still uses for LLMs we have today. That's only one kind of AI as well, the kind that makes all the images and videos is completely separate. That has come on a long way too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

One of the major problems with LLMs is it's a "boom". People are rightfully soured on them as a concept because jackasses trying to make money lie about their capabilities and utility -- never mind the ethics of obtaining the datasets used to train them.

They're absolutely limited, flawed, and there are better solutions for most problems ... but beyond the bullshit LLMs are a useful tool for some problems and they're not going away.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

I cannot think of one single application where an LLM is better or even equivalent than having a person do the job. Its real only use is to trade human workers for cheaper but inferior output, at the detriment to mankind as a whole because we have in excess labor and in shortage power.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 23 hours ago

I had to do a double take to make sure this wasn't an onion article.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 hours ago

There is something society could learn about itself if we spent anytime thinking honestly about how much of a dead end it is politically speaking to increase our use of nuclear power as a means of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Yet, when big corporate interests want it for their own reasons, it is no big thing and almost no politician will speak ill of it. Even though if some kind of disaster comes about because of it they will be left holding the bag of public opinion since that industry is so heavily regulated.

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