AI and crypto face power struggle

AXIOS February 26, 2024
Ben Geman

One new lawsuit and one new essay signal intensifying battles over energy demand from artificial intelligence and crypto-currency mining.

Why it matters: Both technologies demand electricity-thirsty computing at a time when the world is already failing to steeply cut emissions.

State of play: A federal judge on Friday granted crypto industry plaintiffs a temporary order blocking new Energy Department collection of the sectors’ power usage data.

• Meanwhile, AI ethicist Kate Crawford writes in Nature that “we need pragmatic actions to limit AI’s ecological impacts now” — in terms of both power and water usage.
• She says a good start — but only a start — would be recently proposed Democratic legislation creating standards for assessing AI’s impact and setting...

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